Worm Castings
by Selector
Summary: A story that got away from me. It was supposed to be a one shot. Now its a zombie.
1. Chapter 1

Reality Intrudes

1

Jim rose from the haji squat. His gilly suit lofting strips of burlap wetly in the breeze. He slipped the rifle in the drag bag and settled the rest of his gear before he hefted the assault pack then the drag bag and finally the M4. It went across his front, single pointed. He shrugged his shoulders to settle the load, twenty pounds of plate carrier and plates. Forty pounds of assault pack and thirty odd pounds of weapons and ammo. Not bad. Much better than the standard seventy percent of body weight. Damn sure better than the real world eighty-five or ninety percent of body weight.

Of course, he had the truck, so he really only ever needed the assault pack. So, he would tear down this ambush and move on to the next. One day they would all be in the right place at the right time. He had nothing but time.

Plus, he had found that guy in the van for the third time. He would have to send in the video. See if he got confirmation. If he did that guy would be easiest. He never got closer than about a K to the others. He lived in that van.

Jim moved silently down the ridge from his position and slipped into the truck after dropping the gear in the bed under the topper and stripping off the gilly suit. Time for a nap while the PRT moved in and did their bullshit. Then he could police up his gear and move on. They had gone east and couldn't help leaving a trail of bodies.

"These pouch meals are good as an MRE." No one replied of course. There was no one there. There hadn't been for five years, maybe ten. Jim couldn't remember.

Oh, he was still married on paper. His kids were grown now and having kids of their own. Maybe grandkids by now. The wife was back in, well, how do you like that? He couldn't remember. He would have to look at Facebook. She didn't give a fuck. Good conservative girl when he had married her thirty-five years ago, then she went wildly fucking liberal. Over politics. Fucking bullshit that didn't matter because it always stayed the same anyway, FUBAR. That was that, as they say. Long Island! It is what it is. Now he remembered. Bada Bing!

Didn't really matter did it. He had survived cancer but the chemo was cardio toxic and gave him diabetes. The meds, well they made things even more difficult. Then that healer had done her thing but gone nuts or something so now he was practically immortal and different. Augmented. Improved to the maximum possible. The Six Million Dollar Man, except for free.

Of course, she might not have gone nuts. He had just had his investigation done and his old boss retired. It was the perfect time for the government to do something crazy. So, of course, they had done something stupid and crazy. Maybe. Occams razor, or some shit. The government was retarded and crazy and did what it wanted to and fuck the individual. Ergo they had had some plan for him and his unique skill set and he had fucked it up retiring. Oh well, spilt milk.

Meanwhile how does your retirement fund hold up against immortality? Ask your financial adviser about that one. So now he hit fucks for money. "Be a hunter. That GO when I was in basic was right. It only took thirty seven years for him to be that way." Jim smiled.

He drove to his hide and slipped the truck in the hole it barely fit in. Getting out he stretched and moved the screening material back across the hole. "Nap time. Better look at the weapons first and hang the suit up. Fucking rain. If it ain't raining we ain't training."

Reality Intrudes

Jim woke up in the back of the truck cab he had converted to a sleeper type arrangement. "Crew cabs. Gotta love em." He made breakfast with supplies from the cooler hooked to the battery bank he had installed, on the camp stove he had rigged. More than rigged really. The truck was pretty sweet. Years of modifying vehicles so they were livable in the field. Army Training.

After breakfast and cup of coffee he was up and moving. Time to pick up his shit and move it to the target after next. The idiots would already be at the next target. He turned on his scanner and listened as he drove just to make sure they didn't take a left or some shit. They had done it before after all. He would hit a McD's or something to upload the video and confirm the reward on the van idiot later.

Reality Intrudes

Jim lay hunkered down in the snow, not intentionally, but it had snowed last night. Out here on the plains he was a bump the reverse slope of a low ridge and so he was now a drift. "If it ain't snowing we ain't going."

The idiots hadn't taken long here. The evacuation robbing them of all but the normal idiots. They were going to move. The guy had gotten a truck to go with the bus they had. Big tandem axel panel truck.

He shifted his sights shorter and looked at the silhouette of van man through the windshield. He got into the lull of breathing and blinked in surprise when the recoil came. The seven-millimeter Remington magnum in this light chassis had hurt when he was…well, before, now it didn't. He slid down the ridge and ran to his truck. He was gone long before the first of them arrived near his position. Thank god the plow trucks had already been out. He hit the interstate, another truck among thousands, and drove to the next overpass before he circled back.

He moved to his alternate position and watched for the rest of the day. He noticed he wasn't alone. The PRT was building a presence. The idiots were gone. He loaded up and moved out.

At the van he dragged the stiff corpse out of the driver's seat and stomped it flat enough to go in the body bag. Rigor mortis was a bitch. "Ha, sternum. Nice. Center mass baby! Eight hundred meters. Got to love a seven millimeter rem mag and Nosler ballistic tips. That windshield didn't deflect it at all. Didn't even need the Barret for that shot."

He was rifling through the van emptying it of anything useful or valuable when the PRT Trooper stepped around the building "Freeze."

"Yeah no. Registered bounty hunter. License is on the truck hood under the rock. I'm cleaning up here, rigging this van for towing then leaving. Them idiots might come back." Jim never stopped working.

The PRT trooper walked to the truck hood as his battle buddy covered him. He read the license and then looked through the entire packet. "So you just shot him?"

Jim shrugged "Look Kid, I work alone. I can't take chances. Sure the live bounty was half again as much money, but you have to be alive to spend it right? I did my service to country before your older brothers and sisters ran down your momma's leg."

The PRT Trooper backed up as Jim got in the truck and used the backup camera to back onto the van, then got out and hooked it up on the repo lift. Jim finished chaining it down "OK, I'm done here Kid. If I was you I would get out of town. They will send someone back for the body. That little girl likes to make em into zombies or some shit."

"What are you going to do Sir?"

"Go to the state capitol and turn this sack of meat in for the bounty. Sell the van and whatever I don't want from it. New windshield and fixing the hole in the back door will be five hundred bucks or so, but it's a fairly new van. Should be worth fifteen grand or so, even on a quick dump. Probably get a room and a shower somewhere. Been about a month. Restock, catch up with the idiots, and start again. Probably the hatchet one next. Power nullifier right? So the little one couldn't have tuned him up to much." Jim got in the truck and rolled the window down "Like I said, they will circle back. I would leave was I you. Yall have a good day now." He pulled off after reaching out and taking his paperwork back.

Reality Intrudes

"Door to the Bounty Hunter" Number Man stepped through the door and an M18 went off. Jim rolled out of his position under the Kevlar blanket in the pit of the garage floor after a lengthy silence and snorted. "Well, well. You are worth a few duckets too Harbinger."

Jim removed his ear plugs and set about cleaning up. He got the Number Man bagged quickly and was on the road in minutes moving from the abandoned garage. His stop at the morgue included a few minutes of paperwork and a report on the computer then he was off again to the next position he had scouted. "People must think I just drive around looking in abandoned buildings all day for fun. Good day though. Seventeen million. Once the paperwork comes through. A couple more and I will have enough to live off the interest."


	2. Chapter 2

Reality Intrudes

2

And then there were Seven

Jim looked at the signals he was getting on the laptop. "Well that's stupid. Figured they would have moved on further."

He finished up collecting his toys and hooked the phones to the chargers so they would be ready to go. Burner phones were cheap and made great control devices. Easy to modify too, after all if a guy whose last level of technology was a stick to beat his donkey with could do it five times out of ten without blowing his legs off, well. Those other five times were funny as shit though and occasionall Haji had done them a favor and taken out a bunch of his friends. He drew back on the map he had open on the laptop and looked at the next town of the right size. "Hmmph, two hours' drive. Different State though."

He listened to the scanner as he drove. "They're idling. So, I'm a fucktard who likes to play games. Gonna jump aren't you Jack. Which way though. Which way." Jim turned south. It was cold out and People stayed indoors in the cold, usually with a radio or tv on so they got word. Jack and his retards always did better in the warm.

Reality Intrudes

A day later he eased into position overlooking the small town in Kansas. "Fuck this is some White Feather shit here. OK, I spy with my little eye."

Four hours later he was still watching. "Haha Jack. Why does the wind in Kansas blow all the time? Because Colorado sucks. I see what you did here. That would have worked if I was not channeling Carlos. Plus, phones and anemometers, so fuck you."

He wriggled down in the grass better and went back to waiting.

Reality Intrudes

Dawn was just breaking when Jim lifted the nineteen eleven in his left armpit and emptied the magazine. He rolled over dropping the empty, reloaded, and put eight more in Shatterbird's chest with the pistol against her glass robe. He sat up taking her in a fireman's carry and ran to the truck. He tossed her in the back, ran back picked up his gear and ran off again. He put the gear in the truck and took the two-pound ball peen hammer and smashed Shatter Birds head until everything but the face was a misshapen lump of pink goo. "Fuck you Bonesaw."

He leapt in the truck, fired it up and tossed the hammer in the passenger floorboard. He left in a bit of a hurry but not spinning tires. No need to raise more dust than necessary. Smooth is fast and fast is smooth.

Reality Intrudes

Jim left the barbeque joint and got back on the road "Kansas City Barbecue. Not as good as ours but tolerable. Ketchup based sauce though. With a good vinegar based sauce and some vinegar slaw intead of this maynaise shit this would be excellent. Yep, nothing wrong with that meat. Good even." He drove the two hours to the truck maintenance facility he had found and set up the M18s with the motion detectors. "Best purchase I ever made for seventeen dollars apiece. Got to love Home Depot." He lay his head down on the pillow his troops had always laughed at. Easier to get moving when your back wasn't killing you though.

Reality Intrudes

David huffed "Door to Bounty Hunter." He looked around "Door to Bounty Hunter!"

"You having a nice contest is not worth us losing your services David." The older black woman said.

"I can take him Doctor Mother."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. We have already lost Manton and Number Man from the path and now Shatterbird. We will do something else before we try fighting him again."

Reality Intrudes

Six

Jim tossed the coffee grounds in the container, no telling when you would need to hide a smell, or at least disguise it, and fired the truck up. He walked over and punched the button on the door. As it opened he got in the truck. "Convenient them needing to heat the place for those water tanks so leaving the power on. Have to remember this one." He was looking around to make sure he had left no trace. He looked up and snorted. "A fedora. Isn't that shit cute." He flipped the cover off the switch panel in front of the console between his and the passenger seat and eased the clutch out moving the truck out of the service bay.

Jim stopped the truck and waited. One of the phones rang. He chuckled and answered it on speaker. "Nice. So, what can I do for you Hat."

Contessa looked at him scowling "Stop killing people."

Jim sighed "It's what I know how to do. I need the money. They all have dead bounties."

Contessa blinked "The live bounties are higher?"

Jim chuckled at her tapping her foot "I work alone. Too dangerous to hold live ones. Easier and safer for me when they are dead."

"So I kill you now then."

"Look down."

Contessa looked down and blinked at the 'front toward enemy' she saw just buried in the gravel of the parking lot. Jim nodded "I got about an hour of work to do here picking them all up. I got a deal on a thousand of them. They were scheduled for demil. Some of them are probably duds."

"I'm not killing heroes Hat lady. It's up to you but I'm fairly certain I can find a dead bounty on you somewhere. Don't approach me again. Call this phone if you want to talk. I will probably regret this, as I don't normally give warnings, but you seem somewhat honorable. I mean you did wait out here. Maybe smarter than the last guy."

"Door." Contessa backed up and through the door that appeared from nowhere.

Jim eased out on the clutch and accelerated steadily away. "More work. Have to come back for those before some kid finds them. OK Jack off, where did your stupid ass go this time?" He flipped on the scanner and radio tuning to a news channel.

Reality Intrudes

Jim looked through the binoculars and blinked. He dialed a number on the cell.

In the center of a small town, in the Badlands of the Dakotas, fifty claymores went off. He watched as Jack, or the shreds of Jack pulled themselves together. He dialed another number and ten fifty-five gallon drums of gasoline, laundry powder and powdered aluminum detonated. Or the two-inch sausages of ammonium nitrate fertilizer inside them did. They filled the area of affect with 200 gallons of a fairly decent air fuel mixture. Jim watched the shockwave roll over the countryside. A double, the burster charges then the actual fuel air detonation.

The thousand-gallon propane tank split just like he planned and incinerated everything. He could hear Crawlers orgasmic screaming from here. He settled down for a long wait. That fucking thing was stupid and wouldn't have the sense to run. The PRT would show up and fight it and draw it off. "Well that's at least hatchet head."

Reality Intrudes

Five

Jim rolled into town later and skeptically eyed the short body in the boxer position on the gravel parking lot. He got out his axe.

Reality Intrudes

Jim picked up the phone "Hat."

"They call me Contessa."

"I know Hat. Million bucks on you. Private but it's all the same to me." Jim looked at the phone as the carrier tone blanked and shrugged. He whistled as he prepped the site.

The phone rang again "This is Doctor Mother."

"Doc. How much might you be worth dead?"

"Never mind that. You killed Bonesaw, Manton and Shatterbird."

"And made a pretty penny Doc."

"There are ones we would prefer you to leave alone."

Jim shrugged "Match the dead bounty. Cash money, American, Doc."

"So, you can be worked with."

"I'm a simple man Doc."

"We will send a list and match the bounties."

"When I have your money, I will put yours on the no kill list Doc."

"So, you are going to keep doing this?"

"Didn't Hat tell you Doc. Killing is what I know. Got to make hay while the sun shines. I might live forever."

"That is doubtful."

Jim smiled "That would be a relief. I wasn't looking forward to being Casca. You take care of yourself now Doc." He disconnected and pulled the battery out of the phone, got in the truck, and drove to the other site. He watched the flashes in the rearview. "Give that a couple days. Then see if the crows and coyotes leave anything. Bound to be money on one of them."


	3. Chapter 3

Reality Intrudes

3

Sometimes you have to let the game settle

"Yep he's a fuck but I ain't a hitman." Jim shrugged. "You got a case, why don't you find a lawyer. Bound to be some other women he has tried this same shit on."

Alice glared at the tall, wide shouldered weather-beaten man. "Because I don't want the entire world to know."

Jim shrugged "Get a lawyer. Might not get him in jail but really if you take him and the university for all the money you can it makes you better off, lets the lawyer make money and the University's insurer will impose controls on them that will probably be fairly effective in keeping this shit down. Better than him going to jail really. He has tenure so is stuck unless he wants to start over. He will die of ulcers or a coronary by the time those insurance company fucks get through with him. Now I got to move on, got a contract on this heartbreaker fuck. Then this idiot thinks he is a goblin."

Alice blinked "Nilbog. How much is he worth."

Jim smiled "Nu uh. I got to make a living Babe."

"You won't kill him though. Not the way you normally do. I think I can help. You figure out how to get the device I make to him and it will sterilize everything." Alice replied fervently.

Jim sighed.

Reality Intrudes

Alice looked at all the claymores and the motion detectors. Then she looked in the service pit. "You are fucking kidding. The truck is all right, I mean that bed is pretty sweet but you expect me to sleep in there?"

Jim sighed "This is why I don't live with my wife, daughters, or granddaughters. There are people who come after me. The only way I can make them leave me alone is to be so dangerous as to make it not worth their while."

"This is the last place we can get some real rest outside the truck until after we get done with Heartbreaker. I haven't had time to scout out places that have these pits up in Canada. Mostly they stopped being used when lifts got more reliable and cheaper. Back in the thirties. So you only find them in heavy equipment maintenance facilities and the Canadians had less of those go out of business, or the people were smarter about recognizing the value of them so you can't just find them on Zillow."

Alice grunted "I can make the claymores better too."

Jim rolled his eyes "You coming to bed?"

Alice sighed and walked down the steps into the pit. She stripped and left her clothes on the sheet of plywood which rested on the concrete blocks. She let the air mattress down onto them. She was in a t shirt and panties from her shower anyway. Jim nodded and got out the cell phone dialing a number. He listened to the beeps and lay down as Alice got under the covers "No boob grabbing."

"So, who is it that uses me for a teddy bear. And this morning when I tried to get my hands back who held them where they were?"

"Mmmph."

"Thought so. Don't get out of the pit." Jim smiled as Alice wriggled around and then into his side. She was crazy but it was a crazy he could get used to maybe.

Jim's eyes opened in the morning and he had a thought "What is your lawyer saying?"

"That you should move your fucking fingers idiot!" Alice snarled and flexed her hips against his hand while holding it in place with both of hers.

Jim blinked and took stock of what was going on. He grinned and worked both sets of fingers. Rolling a hard nipple and working two fingers deep and the thumb on the same hand in a circle. Alice froze for a minute then started giving instructions. One of them occasionally being stop. He stopped and she growled and had him go back to work every time. After her third time clinching on his fingers she pushed him over on his back and sat on him. She froze, impaled, with wide eyes. Then she growled "I'm not sucking your dick. Fuck you don't look that big. Jesus fuck!"

"Birth control?"

"You're an old white guy."

"Who got healed by some fucking rogue parahuman with a sense of humor. I'm damn near immortal. At least they say so, everything working at peak efficiency."

"Nuhgh. Pill. We will have to find a healer to turn my ovaries off."

"Or we could you know, not do this."

"Are you stupid? This is fucking fabulous. You fit me perfect. Nuh, oh god. Holy crap!"

Alice worked her hips and lifted Jim's hands to her breast. Twenty minutes later and dripping with sweat she growled "Come mother fucker!"

Jim rolled them over rolled her up under him and stroked her long and hard. She howled like a dog. He came in her finally. She passed out. When she came too she wandered to the shower and glared at him. Jim snorted "Yeah I got it. You aren't in love, you just want sex."

Alice glared for a minute more then grinned impishly "Maybe not for a while after that. Still not sucking your dick."

Jim finished up and left shaking his head. Alice squatted over the drain letting what seemed a quart of come drain out of her.

Reality Intrudes

Alice looked at Jim as he drove. She had a lap desk thing out and her hands were tinking away. She looked back down at what she was doing. So, the first guy she runs across that couldn't care less she looked like miss japan and had twenty-eight G tits and she fucks him. What the fuck was that? The reason she had triggered was that professor raping or trying to rape her. She still had bombs planted all over Cornell and a plan to use them. If the lawyer didn't succeed. It had to be some kind of control thing. All of her test of him had worked. If she said stop he stopped, dead, like nothing was happening and he didn't have an iron hard cock. He just rolled over and went back to sleep. She wasn't attracted to him at all or hadn't been until he filled her completely full and touched every nerve in her. That wasn't attraction that was just finding the right dildo. What the fuck? And why was sucking his dick all she wanted to do anymore? It was nearly as bad as tinking.

Jim snorted "Its fine. You are beautiful. You can do what you want. When you do something I don't like I will let you know."

Alice grunted and looked down at the bullets she had in her hands. She clipped one into the small vise on the board in her lap and flipped the magnifier down on her face.

Reality Intrudes

"You have got to be kidding." Alice looked at Jim in the container.

"Nope. Three days, no inspection or none that will find us. It will be dropped on a siding. We drive out, do our thing, drive back, and load up, I had it left on the siding for a week, then three days back. And we are done with Heartbreaker. Those two five-foot sections at the ends are loaded with stuff. It will get unloaded and reloaded on the siding, some retired guys I know live up here. It's a refer container but all the refrigeration, or most of it, is going to those. No tinker tech, nothing. Legit bills of lading and everything. The refer generators provide us heat and light. And there is an antenna for the radio for news. Its lead shielded to make up the weight and protect us from scanners. Oh the bathroom has a stall shower and we only have five hundred gallons of water and five hundred gallons combined grey and black water so navy showers." Jim explained as he set up what was a camp at the back of the truck.

Alice looked over the materials he had picked up for her along with the equipment and grunted as she stripped. "Fine." She ended up in boy shorts and a tank top. She got to work on some ideas she had had for his weapons.

Jim chuckled and got to work on some plans or the plans for all his known targets.

Later after a satisfying meal of reconstituted freeze dried rations, Alice being impressed with Jim's ability to make that other than a sarcastic comment, Jim went to bed. The air mattress was laid on the floor of the container. Alice sat in the folding camp chair with her feet drawn up under her looking at him. He wasn't ugly. He wasn't handsome either. Forgettable maybe. She grunted and rose stripping and leaving her clothes on the chair. She slipped under what he called a wubi, an army issue poncho liner, nude. Why pretend?

Reality Intrudes

"Are you going to wear clothes again?" Jim asked smiling.

"Phht. Like you mind and tinking doesn't require clothes. When I get the urge to have sex I can knock it out and get back to tinking." Alice replied absently, hands full of two beakers. She was modifying the propellant for the M21 to maintain full chamber pressure to the muzzle and not produce a flash. She had finished the bullets. Making an AP, HE and incendiary round.

Jim laughed "So except for you having a vagina I'm gay and banging a guy."

"You'll live. My mother won't when she finds out."

Jim smiled "Especially when you send her the video."

"That may not go to her. I figure I'll go back to being asexual sometime. It's for my records."

Jim rolled around on the floor laughing. Alice kicked him. Fairly hard. Then she pants him, since he had interrupted her work he might as well serve a useful purpose.

Later as she was laying on his chest still mounted he said "I'll have to resight the rifle."

She smiled as his chest rumbled as he spoke. "Yep, all of them." She grinned and sat up as he groaned pushing herself up with her hands. "You don't seem too disappointed." She grinned and worked her hips.

Reality Intrudes

"That is spectacular. Tinkers are bullshit." Jim said looking at the target twelve hundred yards away. He had hit the center of the bull on the third round after heating the barrel up. So now he had cold barrel data too.

Alice smirked "And at least this one fucks good."

"When she isn't making fifty BMG into nuclear weapons."

Alice blushed "OK that might have been a little carried away. Still we are up here in the middle of fucking nowhere Canada."

Jim grinned "OK let's go do Heartbreaker."

Reality Intrudes

"That guy? The paunchy balding fuck? That's Heartbreaker?" Alice asked.

Jim shrugged. "Powers. OK, we need his body and these three women."

"Go ahead and shoot him. It should break his hold, then we can pick up the women and the body. These others will be doing the panicking thing. We got the signs on the truck. Good thing it's black already." Alice told him.

Jim sighed "Coroners don't normally take live people."

Alice waved a pistol "Darts, remember."

Jim got on the rifle and steadied in. Alice jumped when the rifle went off. Twenty-four minutes of scrambling and every word out of both of their mouths being a lie later, they were back on the road with four body bags in the back of the truck.

Alice looked at Jim "They aren't that hot."

Jim shrugged "They are to someone Alice. Six, four, and nine million dollars' worth anyway. Heartbreaker is worth thirty four. Lots of people hated him. That stuff will keep them down for the trip right?"

Alice smiled and nodded "Suspended animation."

Jim looked thoughtful "If that works on parahumans and we can get it in a rifle round there are some live bounties. We'll put Paunchy Mchoty in the freezer end."

Reality Intrudes

"You're going to be sore. You can slow down, I'm not going anywhere. Well, other than to the next bounty." Jim looked at Alice who was still rolled up under him panting.

She took a minute as he got off of her and lay beside her "I can't really. It's like the tinking. Maybe in a while. I never had a partner. Well that's not true, I had sex, but not with anyone who let me have control like you do. Even when you are pounding me."

Jim chuckled "You aren't going to say stop when I am coming again are you? I think I pulled a muscle."

She shoved him as she got up "Still filled me full. You just didn't move anymore doing it. I fucking saw stripes I came so hard."

"Control freak."

"Yep, change the sheets." She walked to the shower. "And too late. I've already been sore a couple times. You mash hard. I like it."

Reality Intrudes

"So Nilbog." Jim arched a brow.

Alice hoisted the M79 he had given her. "One lifeless expanse from bedrock to fifty meters. Ready when you are."

Jim snorted "Wait until we are through stalking up to the wall. Three days in a wet gilly suit will take the piss and vinegar out of you."

"You can warm me up in the holding cell after they arrest us. No better way to claim the bounty? Video wouldn't be accepted?" Alice asked.

Jim shook his head "Nope. Remember, registered bounty hunter."

Reality Intrudes

The projectile arched up and was tracked on the fire finder as it cleared the top of the wall. It landed deep in the enclosure and some kind of wave spread out from it lapping at the walls. The PRT squad was on them in minutes. Jim was hugging Alice trying to warm her up. Her lips were blue. He had the M79 slung over his shoulder.

Minutes later Alice sat on his bed in the infirmary nude with the blanket wrapped around both of them. The PRT captain glared at them. "So, you did this for the bounty?"

Jim shrugged "It's what we do."

"It used to be what you did. When did you get a partner?"

Alice snorted "I tried to hire him to hit my rapist. He talked me into calling a lawyer. Which worked out better. I got millions in shut up money."

The PRT Captain blinked "OK. Well as soon as Dragon confirms he is dead we will certify it for you."

Jim shrugged "Cheer up. You get to go to some other place. Maybe it will be warmer."

Reality Intrudes

Dragon blanked the view from the infirmary camera again. "There is no life Director Piggot. None. From bedrock up into the air for fifty meters. Not even viri. We have found a sub-basement with the remains of one human male in it."

"And these two did that with one grenade."

"He is the Paladin, the unpowered cape bounty hunter. She is an unknown. Tinker probably, from looking at his vehicle. She may be holding him in her thrall." Dragon opened the video and closed it again. If she was human she would blush.

Emily Piggot chuckled "In the traditional non-powered method. I wouldn't have thought the old goat had it in him. That healer does good work. That's what three times now. We have spoken with her attorney, his partners. Apparently, her story checks out and she went with him on the Heartbreaker job. Suddenly those three women being delivered in suspended animation makes more sense. He would have passed up a live bounty before. She apparently came up with a way that he feels is safe."

"Perhaps we could get her some counseling Director. She has to know we are monitoring." Dragon demurred.

Director Piggot chuckled "If exhibitionism is her only problem I consider it a win. Certify the kill and let's send them on their way." She had the final say as the last of the mission that had gone so horribly wrong, which had never been closed out, until today.

Dragon closed the connection.

Reality Intrudes

"So. What was that?" Jim asked as they drove off.

Alice chuckled "No idea. It was fun though. OK so now I am independently wealthy as well. I got some ideas."

Jim grimaced "This is going to cost me isn't it."

"Oh shut up. There is a cape that the PRT is calling a villain but I don't think she is one. Last report she is near Boston."


	4. Chapter 4

Reality Intrudes

4

Going to the dogs

"Stop fucking me and get up. We need to find Hellhound." Alice slapped Jim on the chest.

"You're on top Babe." Jim smiled up at her as she shuddered. "Have you been studying?"

Alice sat for a moment with her eyes closed. "Jesus! Why the hell did you let me keep on going. Yes, and I have my permit so you can let me drive. That bitch turning her nose up at me when she did my physical. Sexually active, well duh. I showered."

Jim laughed "She was just concerned. You being all red and having those bruises."

"Mind her business. She needs to find her own if she wants one to own the pussy." Alice barked.

Jim rolled his eyes. "It's not a competition Babe."

"Shows what you know. Now where are we going?" Alice slid off of him and wandered off to the shower in the maintenance facility he had rigged in Stowe, outside of Boston, as he dialed the number to turn off the mines.

He shook his head "Those things aren't that smart you know."

"Ha, they weren't. Then I worked on them. They won't detonate on me or you. Anyone else? Boom. Come here and butter your pussy." Alice was taking full advantage. Jim refused her nothing that wasn't related to their work. He was totally in control of that, other than the tinkering stuff to make it easier or safer for them. Most of the time her bossing him around led to a delay for sex though, so she had to be careful about time. Adding thirty minutes to get fucked hard wasn't complicated though. Plus, she had him on a safe word so he could and would just do what he wanted with her until she used it. She did too, then told him to go on. Just checking she was still in control. "Coconut oil is in the sink warming up."

Jim nodded and got up headed for the shower room attached to the locker room. He chuckled at the steam rolling out of it. Alice was running every shower head again. "As for where we are going, I don't know. This girl is your idea. Animal shelters to ask about her and put the word out. Places with dog food on sale."

Alice grabbed him by the convenient handle and stroked him with her soapy hands. Jim smiled and took a poof and her body wash. He lathered it up and washed her as she washed him. He ended up squatted down and she put a foot on his knee and handed him a razor. He lathered her up and shaved her all the way up then all the way down.

Jim stood and Alice smiled at him and tiptoed up to kiss him. Another new thing, if she wasn't sucking his dick she wanted to be making out like a teenager. Then she walked out to dry. Jim washed his hair and then shut off all the showers. Alice was nude with her hair in a towel and holding out the giant economy sized coconut oil jar when he got to the sinks. He sat on a bench and she put a foot on his knee. By the time he was finished Alice was sitting on his leg shaking in recovery again and he laughed as he sat her on the bench and washed his hands then shaved and dried himself. "It wouldn't take so long if we didn't have to butter you."

"Have you ever seen an Asian with wrinkles? Yuk. No. You butter. You could try being less uh, less something." Alice shot back.

Jim would have answered but she turned on the blow dryer. He rolled his eyes. No talking for fifteen minutes then. He could do breakfast.

Alice wandered out of the shower in white lightweight under armor and looked at the breakfast laid on their new folding table and the two folding stools. "What the fuck, can't you be lazy, or helpless in the kitchen or something? You make me feel inadequate."

Jim smiled "Can't build shit that kills Nilbog. Not hot as a fresh fucked fox in a forest fire either."

"Oh. OK then." Alice smiled. "After breakfast we can drive some?"

Jim laughed "Give a girl a hopped up Super Liner and she forgets all about you."

"And my trailer too motherfucker. And hey! I just spent all yesterday evening fucking you. And sucked your dick. You got two nuts. Which is so weird making me wet like that. Then this morning you nutted in me again. Then I wear this for you." Alice was waving her fork. Jim was grinning. She glared at him. He had fucked her until she couldn't anymore. She must have come twenty times. Thank god for lube. Fucking Healers. The under armor was for her too. It helped support things and moved with her, and it got him horny for her.

Reality Intrudes

Alice watched Jim smile and joke his way through the fifth shelter of the day. Fifth and last. She perked up. Jim asked "Do you know where Rachel is?"

The girl twisted like she was making up a lie to a parent. Alice stepped up "We are bounty hunters. Not PRT. We want her for her abilities. We want to put her on the team. She doesn't have a bounty."

The girl glared at her "I know who Paladin is. I'm not stupid. That's the problem though. You do dangerous things. Plus, you will know how to make her agree."

Alice gaped, Jim nodded "But I will make her a registered hunter and keep the PRT off of her. My lawyer already has the paper work going. She might make some money off those people who fucked her case, and her life, up especially if they resist and the lawyers sue them. Maybe even if they don't."

The girl looked at him for a minute then it changed to a glare "If you get her hurt I will find a way to make you pay." Jim smiled. "She will be at the Wegmans, they got a sale." Alice watched amazed as the girl gave directions.

Reality Intrudes

Alice sat in the pickup. Her hands tinking away. "You are just going to walk up and talk to her."

"Well yeah. Best way I found to not kill people is talk to them. Remember, no teeth. Look her in the eye but let her look away if she is going to. No smart ass comments about her. She is living rough, nobody ever gave enough of a fuck about her to teach her anything useful. She has done what works. This was your idea so I will get her but you are going to teach her." Jim gave her a look.

Alice blinked "What the fuck, you gave me a girl boner." Jim sighed "So, that means you are going to teach me so I can teach Rachel."

Jim laughed. "Dog."

Alice looked up and through the windshield. She focused and finally saw the movement. It was amazing how Jim could see a black dog in the shadow of the building in the dark. She watched him get out of the truck and walk toward the store, not the girl.

Jim walked through the store with a basket. They did need things after all. He got in line behind Rachel as she wrestled the forty-pound bag of dogfood that was in the sale flyer. He nodded to her smiling with his lips closed, then went to the self-checkout. He was in position with his one bag when the bag of food came down the belt. He nodded to Rachel and picked it up. Standing and waiting on her. Rachel looked at him then led them outside. Jim looked at the dog she led them too. "Trucks this way."

Rachel looked at the dog who smelled Jim and then looked at her "His name is Brutus."

Jim walked off "Good name. Needs a bath. Got some stuff. Got a place."

Rachel nodded.

Alice watched most of this amazed. She had seen them in the store through the windows. Jim hadn't talked to the girl at all. Jim opened the driver's door and let the dog and the girl in the truck "Nice talking."

Jim nodded "Did what it was supposed to." Alice rolled her eyes.

Reality Intrudes

Alice looked at Rachel in the shower "Don't use up Brutus's stuff. Here, use mine. His is for fleas and ticks. He will need more baths with it. I'll make something better, keep the little bastards off of him."

Alice watched her after they were all clean and Jim came in the from the shower room, he had gone in as the girls came out. Alice handed him the tub of coconut oil and he squatted. She put a leg up on his knee and he oiled her without the sex play but touching every part of her. Alice smiled and turned to Rachel. "Your turn." Rachel blinked. "You are a girl. You need to build a routine. It will help you later and make everything easier now."

Rachel nodded and walked over to Jim and put a foot on his knee. Jim chuckled. He oiled her though. Exactly as he had Alice. She squirmed a bit. Alice shooed him away and started teaching Rachel. Jim went and fixed lunch.


	5. Chapter 5

Reality Intrudes

5

New Tricks

Jim woke up in the morning and pulled the warm body tighter to himself. He opened his eyes and smiled at Rachel. "She will wake up in a minute and want to have sex." Rachel nodded. Jim chuckled "Going to be like that then." Alice woke up. She made some noises as he chuckled then wriggled around and climbed on top. "Company."

Alice shrugged "She watched all last night. Not like she hasn't seen her friends do it." Jim sighed.

When she was done Alice led to the shower. Jim came in and found Rachel washing Brutus again. He laughed. Once the women got to the table he looked at Rachel. "Plan?"

"Dogfights."

Jim frowned "Yeah. You know where?" Rachel nodded. "Have to take out the people organizing it. Otherwise they will just start again. Take their money too." Rachel nodded.

Alice grinned "I'll drive!" Rachel rolled her eyes. Jim laughed. Alice loved her truck. They had gotten a Mack with a huge sleeper on a stretched, heavy duty, frame and a trailer that was part shop, part car transporter and part apartment. The trailer had a generator as well. Alice had gone to tinker heaven. Somehow she had found a tinker site on the dark web and was always working on something on the truck and trailer, mostly for the truck and trailer but some stuff left in UPS boxes. Jim was teaching her to drive it. She still needed some hours before she could test.

Jim looked at Rachel "You have to learn too." Rachel nodded. She already knew that meant learning to read and do math better. Logbooks were no joke.

Reality Intrudes

Rachel eased back from her position by lifting herself on hands and toes. She maneuvered herself and her gear carefully. Once she was clear and in the hall Jim nodded at her "Good job. Always good to stay in practice. OK, so we have a list of the players now. Two of them are parahumans. Now we need to find out if they have bounties. Some of the normal will, so we will have a reason to go in. No sense going to get them if no one is paying though. If nothing else crime stoppers will give us a couple grand apiece. We will hit a bondsman I know here."

Alice shrugged "We can freeze them all now and sort them out after."

Jim looked south "We should check if you can do something to that freaks sites. There is one in a scrap yard over there. Its unmonitored. Some kid in it. There are big rewards on them. You could be a billionaire Alice."

Alice frowned "We would need a healer or a bunch of doctors and shit."

Jim shrugged "Brockton Bay is close. Panacea is there. News says she can heal anything."

"New Wave. Well, they have a web site." Alice shrugged "We can go look."

Reality Intrudes

Director Armstrong of the PRT looked at the Boston Protectorate leader, Bastion. "Paladin."

Bastion nodded "With his bomb maker, tinker, whatever she is, Bakuda, and now apparently Hellhound."

Armstrong nodded "I've looked into Hellhound. Fascinating. I think if she was a ward we could work on her power. I don't think it is limited to just dogs. The case against her is related to her trigger too."

Bastion frowned "Going to pull a Piggy on me Director?"

Armstrong snorted "Director Piggot is in a bad position. Brockton Bay is worse than Gary. It should have been quarantined. Politics apparently. She, or rather that directorate, does produce amazingly capable combat troopers and heroes though."

Bastion chuckled darkly "If they live. So, what is the cape killer doing in town?"

Armstrong shrugged "Lots of bounty money walking around town. Bakuda and Bitch, apparently what Hellhound calls herself, are registered bounty hunters as well. Bonded and insured. Apparently, he made enough money off the members of the Nine that he has killed to start his own company and hire a law firm. A damn good law firm. That firm is working on Cape law, to include labor law."

"More interesting, why are they wandering around a Gray Boy site?"

Bastion laughed "Tinker. Huge money, NEPEA 5 doesn't apply to rewards."

"Or money seized by bounty hunters or vigilantes." Armstrong nodded. "I wish we had known Hellhound was in town." Bastion shrugged. He was glad to escape the drama really, it was a lost opportunity however.

Reality Intrudes

Rachel watched Jim and did what he did for exercise. Jim snorted and showed her exercises for females. "Everyone is human right? There are however physical differences between males and females. These are the ones I know of that will work for females. I have some contacts. I'll email them to set up a program for you. Then we will start you on fighting. More than street fighting, though that is a good start." Rachel nodded. Jim grinned "Cardio is the same for everyone, I'll use the tread mill then you can. Running outside is too uncontrolled here."

"Alice doesn't work out." Rachel looked at him.

Jim smiled "She gets her exercise at night right now."

"I'd like to try that too." Rachel informed him bluntly.

Jim was nonplussed "I'll ask the lawyer. You sure you want to do that with me?"

Rachel nodded "Other boys are weak. You are strong."

"We might have to ask your therapist too." Jim replied.

"Talking." Rachel scowled. Jim laughed.

Reality Intrudes

Alice drummed her fingers on her workbench. Jim and Rachel were out scouting. Rachel. She was seventeen or eighteen. Jim had told her about the conversation this morning. Alice had surprised herself and not been jealous at all. In fact, she had thought it was a good idea. "Like some fucking sorority." She checked the monitors again. She had cameras on Jim, Rachel, Brutus, and Jim's rifles. Jim was covering Rachel as she closed in on the apartment building. "We need a stranger. Maybe we advertise on PHO? Something." I should start running though. Sex as exercise, who knew. It needed a little planning though. Muscle failure she could enjoy. Hehehe.

Oh ho, what's this? She watched as the cars pulled up and the Teeth got out. She cackled as Jim never hesitated and the freeze grenade landed among them. "Suspended animation for you Butcher. No transferring to someone else. Hahahaha!" Alice went back to work on the gray boy bubble popper.

Reality Intrudes

Rachel watched as the crowd in the disused freight terminal turned dog and pit fighting arena went to sleep. She growled "I hate gas mask."

Alice cackled "Maybe you are canine enough?"

"Don't try it Rachel. Alice stop. Come on. Let's get the dogs and the money and see how much reward is on these." Jim ordered. They all got to work.

Later that evening in the apartment in the trailer "We'll mosey on to the next one. Accord doesn't have enough of a reward to make up for the risk and Blasto doesn't have any. Hard to believe." Jim offered.

Alice stretched out on him where he was laying on the couch. "Hookwolf. Besides the lawyers are busy with the Teeth and the Butcher. Looks like the PRT is going to take custody of them and want them released from suspension."

Rachel smiled. The other two looked at her. Alice rolled her eyes "Boston is about played out for us. At least until I can get the bubble popper to work. I got the bubble maker working though so we don't have to stay here."

"I have the Claymore line automated now so we can set up all the locations as we go. They are even non-lethal. Suspended animation, plus being man in the loop."

Jim chuckled "I'm pretty sure they will stop running into them after a while and we will have to go pick those up or detonate them so I hope they are cheap. The PRT will lose control of the Butcher. I wonder if we get the bounty for her twice or does it start over?"

"Grocery store, auto parts shop and I can make anything." Alice waved him off.

Rachel got up "Shower."

Alice grinned and got serious "You can butter her after. Do me now." Jim sighed as he sat up bringing her with him. Maybe he was glad for that crazy healer after all?

Reality Intrudes

"No kill shelters endowed, dogfighting stopped, Teeth dropped off. Still working on the bubble popper. Did everyone go potty?" Jim asked from the passenger seat.

Alice snorted and let the clutch out, the M Drive running through three gears on the way through the left turn onto the on ramp "Its creepy when you dad, you fuck us both. Besides we have a bathroom in the sleeper. And we can change drivers. I fixed it."

Jim looked at the windshield covered in gauges and numbers "Put in a HUD too I see. Man that MP 8 makes a lot of torque."

Alice bounced happily and the transmission shifted up all the way into tenth headed for twelth as she matted the accelerator "Full thermal vision."

Rachel asked "How?" She was sitting in a seat behind but slightly right of Alice.

Alice frowned and merged after looking in the HUD for both mirrors views "Weapon aiming for my projectiles maybe? I tinked it."

Jim grunted "Don't think I didn't see you with those drawings for this engine."

Alice smiled "I got a wrecked one in a scrap yard. It's in the overhead storage in the trailer."

Rachel shook her head. "Trucks brand new. Someone wrecked one already?"

Alice nodded "On a test drive! A bulldozer backed over the rear end of it, 2009, less than a hundred miles on it."

Jim laughed "That persons life sucked. How does that space expansion you did effect the center of gravity on the trailer?"

Alice grinned wildly "It doesn't."

Jim rubbed his eyes "Tinker bullshit. Damn trailer holds as much as a coastal freighter." Alice cackled.

Rachel heard the sound of a Skype connection and grunted "That will be the talker." She headed off into the sleeper with Brutus.

Jim leaned back. "Therapy by cell phone."

"Just because you are a hundred and seven years old doesn't mean time stood still." Alice grinned at him. "So, most of the rest of the top of the trailer is full of hotshot freight for Brockton Bay. Most of the trailer period. My workshop too. Raw ingredients for Medhall. Supplies for the Protectorate and PRT. Expensive."

"Short haul then. Nice of the broker to give us that load. We can find a parking space after we offload." Jim nodded.

Alice snorted "No one can take it from us so the insurance is cheap. Then we don't have to pass that cost. We are a dollar seventy a loaded mile. Everyone else is two dollars a mile plus fuel surcharge."

Jim laughed "Those insurance guys freaked when you demonstrated your defense system."


	6. Chapter 6

Reality Intrudes

6

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Jim looked at the map view of Brockton Bay on the laptop. He found the highest point in the area of the Boat Graveyard, the water front, and the railyard. Unsurprisingly it was near the railyard. You don't put millions of tons of train on soft ground after all. At least not without some serious ground work. Railroads being in it to make money, the less infrastructure they had to build the more they liked it. So, the railyard was on good solid, slightly elevated ground. He looked at the buildings there and blinked at the row of warehouses at the north-west edge. Slightly higher and closer to the interstate that had been put in after the railyard, off the last interchange on it in fact, one built for trucks with long ramps.

Alice and Rachel returned from dealing with Medhall, Alice looked at him and grinned "Put it on the HUD." Jim grunted and worked on it for a second then walked into the cab to check. He smiled when it worked. He explained it to Rachel as Alice let the navigation program work out a route there then checked it. The software was good, but she hadn't tinked it yet. It was a straight commercial product. Not all routes were suitable for tractor-trailers.

Rachel watched Jim as he brought up the anti-hijacking program and components on his side of the windshield and changed the parameters to urban operations. The trailer roof, doors, and all the doors and latches on the Tractor showed green meaning they were electrified. It was amazing that would keep most parahumans out as well, but as Jim said, most capes were just as squishy as normal people. Only brutes needed special measures. "So the shape tells you it's a freight depot?"

Most anti hijacking systems didn't have that. Alice had added time stop devices to theirs. She had wanted to go lethal. They had talked about it and time stop prevented collateral damage. Damage to their truck or trailer. Perhaps both.

Jim nodded "The loading docks all the way around it and the big aprons. In a operating depot their would be lots of trailers and yard dogs to move them to the docks. Truckers would come in, find the trailer by number and hook up to it. Depending on the set up they would then pull or go to the office and get the bill of lading then pull. The yard dogs would back most trailers onto the docks for unloading and loading."

Half an hour later they rolled into the parking lot of a freight transfer warehouse complex that was apparently abandoned and Alice backed down onto the loading dock. "Found the owner. It's a mortgage speculation company that's nearly bankrupt. The lawyers are working on it." Jim looked up from the laptop.

Rachel headed out the back door of the sleeper. Jim and Alice followed. Jim had the nearest man door of the freight terminal open in seconds with a set of lock picks and a can of WD 40. They walked in the man door beside the roll up door they were backed into and blinked. As their eyes adjusted to the dim light provided by translucent panels in the roof they saw the warehouse was full top to bottom. Every shelf in it loaded with plastic wrapped pallets. A row of forklifts stood by the wall hooked to their chargers. All the place needed was power. Alice cackled.

Jim prepared dinner that evening. Alice had hooked the APU of the tractor and the trailer generator to the warehouse and it was charging a couple of fork lifts and running the computer inventory system of the warehouse. Alice, Rachel, and Brutus were still exploring the 'compound' as they were calling it. It wasn't one freight terminal, it was four. About fifty acres inside a twenty-foot-high chain link fence with razor wire at the base and on top. The one they were backed into was the newest, and largest, one.

Alice, Brutus and Rachel came in the sleeper with perfect timing. "They think it's a prison. The cops and PRT patrol the outside of it fairly regularly. The regular people I mean. There must be some who know it's freight terminal but with the docks on the inside between the buildings like they are, from the outside it is just five story concrete walls inside a hell of a fence." Jim offered nodding at the laptop on the table. PHO was open and on the archived Brockton Bay page.

Alice nodded "The inventory is pretty tight. Some of the product might be bad but it's probably a billion dollars' worth of stuff. If we can get it for that we will have done well. It's mostly stuff I can use or we can sell too."

Rachel added "Lots of targets here."

Jim eyed them, then turned to Brutus who tilted his head attentively. Jim sighed. "A base here then. Still targets in Boston and New York and this is sort of a central location to those two. Decent population density in New England and the North East. The East Coast has plenty of people with bounties and we are getting close to the live capture process. Plus we are astride a highway that runs to Canada."

Alice nodded "Got the time stop rounds for all the guns worked out. Now just need to go into production on them." Jim grunted.

In the morning they got up and started moving, separately but with purpose. They were scouting and listening.

By lunch they were all back at the truck "The receivers of the mortgage company took a penny on the dollar." Jim looked up from his laptop. He then got up and moved to the refrigerator. Rachel helped as he handed out cold cuts, vegetables and condiments.

"Nazi's do dog fighting. One talked to me. Said I should bring Judas." Rachel offered.

"Where did you put the body?" Alice asked. Jim smiled. Rachel just stared at her.

Jim interrupted the stare down and hugged Rachel "Good. Blond, blue eyed. He nearly had to talk to you. Work him a little, find out what the layout is. We should close the deal in about six weeks. They are working on getting the power turned on. There is a union here, Dock Workers Association. They have warehousemen, mechanics, material handlers, all the trades. I'll talk to them and we can get this place sorted out and maybe up and running. It will be a good cover."

Alice nodded "I'll mine the fence. We will need a house."

Jim nodded "Nothing fancy."

"Big yard." Rachel got in her requirement.

Reality Intrudes

Six weeks of living in the sleeper and trailer and looking like a dad and two adopted daughters trying to make a business go later Jim sighed "Nice house in the docks area. Big, old though. Six lots around it. Those houses aren't so nice. Newer. It backs up to the other nice house in the area. They were probably originally halves of the same parcel. That one is now on a quarter acre and we own the rest. Acre and three quarters. Man and his daughter as neighbors. The wife recently died."

Alice rolled her eyes "No fucking her." Rachel smiled.

Jim rolled his eyes and poked Rachel "What the fuck? I wasn't going to do you. You are the one that woke me up sliding down my cock."

Rachel shrugged "You make me come every time you oil me. At least twice a day."

Alice grunted "And you are all hard body now Rachel. Those D's aren't bad either. Our own body builder."

Rachel shrugged "Good training program, good food. The education isn't bad either."

Alice snorted "You didn't know that word six weeks ago. Fine. The lawyers got you emancipated and are suing the fuck out of the Philadelphia police, Pennsylvania child services and the PRT. Plus, you share well."

Jim rolled his eyes. "We need a thinker. Precog would be best."

Rachel smiled "How about straight know it all. I've seen one on the local boards."

Jim nodded "Good. Meanwhile we take the dog fights tonight, then a Merchant op, then the ABB. Keep the power balanced."

Rachel nodded "Have to hit the ABB for at least Oni Lee. If we take out Hookwolf. He is a lieutenant of the Empire."

Alice nodded "Hit one or all of the whore houses. Lung is a lazy fuck. Oni Lee not so much."

Reality Intrudes

Taylor watch curiously as the truck backed in alongside the old Phillips place. Her dad looked where she was looking. Taylor blinked when the healthy looking blond teen hopped down. Healthy, but blocky and strong looking, muscular pretty in a girl next door sort of way.

It had been a week. School started. Emma was a complete bitch. A dog fighting ring had gotten taken out by the Paladin apparently. Non-lethally. That had lit the boards up. Hookwolf being the apparent reason it was taken down and he was shipped to somewhere, for the bounty. No one knew where. Oh, a dog too! Yikes, huge dog. Dogs, many. Oh, here she comes. "Hi! I guess we are neighbors. Taylor Hebert."

Rachel nodded "Rachel. Yeah, the guy I travel with bought the place. The ones on both sides of it and on both sides of you too. We are going to salvage those off. The dogs need space to run and space I can train them in."

Taylor blinked "Wow. Need help moving in?"

Rachel chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Alice, the other girl that stays with us, is decorating. I don't really care besides my room. Neither does Jim. We will have to buy stuff for the house. We live in the sleeper now. It's like an apartment. Tiny, but an apartment. Want to see?"

Taylor nodded and followed as the other girl walked to the truck and up some steps between the tractor and trailer. "So, you guys bought the freight terminal."

Rachel nodded "You should see all the crap. All those buildings were full of stuff. Some of it is funny. Who needs four million rubber ducks from China? Half of their faces are half way around their heads too. Funny looking. Misprints Alice says."

Jim, finished hooking the truck to the water, sewer, and power connections. He watched Rachel give the neighbor girl a tour of the truck as he planned the hit on the whorehouses. The lawyers were looking for bounties on the idiots from the dogfighting ring. It had been a counting house for the Nazi's too. Jim smiled. They had already made what they thought they would get just on Hookwolf. That screaming bitch and the weird tiger fetish dude were going to bring a couple of hundred grand apiece. That hit alone put them in the black and they hadn't gotten to the main course yet. This was still the appetizers. This was a great town.

Jim nodded and went in the house. Alice hugged him in the kitchen. She watched as the girls walked by and went upstairs with Brutus and Judas following them. She smiled at the blush on the tall skinny girl. She was molesting Jim pretty hard. "Furniture guys should be here soon. Tomorrow the construction guys."

Jimi nodded "As long as the dealer delivers the new pickup before dark."

Alice nodded "I'll get the security set up tonight. It is going to be man in the loop until we don't have so many people around here. I got the contacts working though. Just a little glow from the HUD. Barely visible in the dark. I will make it red light."

"It should be fine. Security through obscurity. I'm just a horny trucker who hit the lottery and got lucky picking up strays." Jim nodded.

"Like Rachel apparently." Alice smiled.

Reality Intrudes

Taylor woke up as the neighbor's new pickup truck pulled into the driveway next door to theirs and she watched from her window as they got out and went in the house. She looked at the clock. Four in the morning! Rachel hadn't seemed like a party girl. She had seemed pretty serious and smart. Her books looked like too. Though she had her children's books still. That was good though right? She could pass them to her kids and they didn't take up much space. She watched as the lights in the house came on and lay back down. She blushed furiously as she thought of Alice and Jim going to bed. She was early twenties and he had to be thirty something. Maybe late twenties.

In the actual house she was thinking about, the girls were hogging the bathroom. Jim walked to the one in the hall. He would be happy when the construction guys combined the master and the guest room on that side of the stairs making the master and its bath bigger.

He stepped into the tub and turned on the shower. That had gone well tonight. They had gotten sixty four women and girls from those four houses. Twenty-three young men and boys too. The councilors and lawyers would handle them tomorrow. Some of them might end up as workers at the freight terminal. They had cleared up the Nazi's already. It was different from the work he used to do. Covering Alice while she set up her devices on top of the whore houses, but you couldn't deny it was effective. Fifteen minutes of set up and bam, everyone frozen in time. Sort of. They were invulnerable but they could be moved with those magnetic clamps.


	7. Chapter 7

Reality Intrudes

7

Taylor came home from school and put her stained top in the wash. She changed and went outside again. She found Rachel in the back yard looking at her ruined books. "Someone did this?"

Taylor sighed "Yes."

Rachel nodded "They won't stop unless you make them." Taylor laughed and held out a skinny arm. Rachel frowned "You can change that. I can show you how."

That was how Taylor found herself working out, training to fight, and running with the taciturn, hard bodied, blond. She also started spending time with Rachel outside of all that. Taking care of what seemed like hundreds of dogs. "So, this is a shelter?" Taylor asked as they were in one of the buildings in the freight terminal.

Rachel shook her head but said "Maybe? They are strays. I find them, fix them up, train them, and place them. Have to train the owners or handlers too."

Taylor looked around inside the freight terminal. "You drive, how come you got a truck?"

"Handy. Jim has one. Saw how handy it was. I was living on the street. If I have to do it again I can live in the truck. Not old enough to drive a semi. Jim lived in his truck for a long time before he got the semi. Plus, got a one ton with a fifth wheel hitch so I could run hotshot freight with it."

Taylor kept scooping food into bowls and putting them down. "Those are expensive."

"We came into some money. Jim's lawyers sued the state for me and got me some. Plus, we make money from this place. Jim makes the dealers cry too. Their sales months end in the middle of the month and he goes looking in the middle of the week. They need the sales so they will drop the price."

Later in the week Taylor's eyes got huge suddenly "You're Hellhound!"

Rachel laughed "Bitch. Hellhound is what the PRT called me. The lawyers sued them too." She looked at the frozen Taylor.

"Jim is Paladin. Alice is Bakuda!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Is this going to be a problem for you Taylor? You should be careful about telling capes you know who they are. Some don't like it. Us, it doesn't matter so much because, well, because."

Taylor nodded slowly, then shook her head "No, it doesn't matter to me. You are cape bounty hunters and they hate you already." Taylor covered her mouth with both hands.

Rachel chuckled "Yep. Speaking of hate. The three bitches still on your case?"

Taylor nodded "You hit the Empire dogfighting ring and the ABB brothels. You guys took down three capes."

Rachel nodded "And a bunch of skips and dudes for crime stoppers rewards. It's how we make our money. This is all cover for that. Brockton Bay is the happy hunting ground Jim says. Five or six hundred million dollars on the hoof he thinks. The freight depot and the trucks are coming on though. Alice gets the train thing working and we would be able to quit hunting maybe."

Taylor blinked "Lung should be worth that alone? Then there is the Empire and the Merchants."

"Jim figures dead bounties. If he can't do anything else, or Alice's stuff doesn't work, that's all we will get after he kills them." Taylor looked puzzled "Alice is a tinker. Materials tinker she says. Bomb tinker is how it works in the real world, at least in her case, but some of her bombs do funny things. Funny like freezing people in time. Back to the bitches?"

Taylor huffed and blew at a strand of hair that was working around to her face "Still got their group. Now all the people they pick on hang around me."

Rachel nodded "Jim said they would. Bring them over. We will train them. It's going to come to a fight sooner or later. 'Some people only understand the ruthless application of overwhelming force'."

"That sounds like Jim. I tripped Sophia down the stairs after she shoulder checked me." Rachel grinned at her. Taylor blushed.

Reality Intrudes

Danny looked at the hole in the ground. Jim handed him a beer as he walked up "Alice wanted a secure work space. I didn't know she was going to design and build an Endbringer shelter. Something about chemicals from the dirt as well. Girl is nuts. Hot, but nuts."

Danny laughed "Well the grill is lit. Likely the last good weekend before it gets wet and cold. Got any steaks?"

Jim nodded "Yep. Hey, want to hook your basement to the thing? It has a gym and everything."

Danny looked in the hole. It was thirty feet to the top of the ten foot thick, heavily reinforced, roof section they were finishing up. Brockton Bay had turned into a bad place. He had a daughter. "Yeah I do actually. I can pay for the work. I might want it dug rather than Alice doing that crazy explosives thing. Never saw explosives move dirt that precisely before. Or quietly. We do have to have somewhere to live. Well I do. Taylor moved in with Rachel."

Jim waved him off as he was texting "Rachel's therapist is amazed at the progress she has made and her level of socialization, whatever the fuck that is. Taylor is good for her. Its right across the back yard. Soon enough they won't even have to go outside if they don't want to. Alice can freeze your place in time and work around it. Won't even slosh the water in a glass. Keeps her busy, doing stuff like that. Probably want to pack a weeks' worth of clothes and you can use our showers, washer and dryer, kitchen, the girls will bring the meat."

Danny knew the non-cape parts of Rachel's story already. "I can at least get you a discount. A lot of your workers are members of my union."

Jim laughed "I thought the lawyers already got a good deal."

Danny nodded "Pretty good. Who the fuck are those people? They gave our contract lawyers fits. They loved it."

Jim nodded "A law firm Quin Calle, the cape lawyer, recommended. Speaking of lawyers. What's up with that Barnes pinhead?"

Danny sighed "No idea. We were friends. I don't know what happened to that."

Alice walked up with Taylor, Rachel, and several bowls and platters. "She got a girlfriend, Emma I mean, Taylor never turned a hair and moved on. Pissed her off. So, I can do your property too?" Danny smiled and nodded. Alice put what she was carrying down and rubbed her hands together as she cackled.

Taylor shook her head "Emma is not gay. Boy crazy maybe, depending on how she can use them, but not gay." She rolled her eyes at the cackling.

"Why is she so jealous then?" Alice asked with an arched brow.

The fine afternoon just after Halloween proceeded. Danny got the description of Alice's 'bunker' as Jim called it and they talked about many things. Including the old steel mill and refinery.

Later that night the Merchants got hit hard, mostly by accident. Squealer appeared with a tank and Rachel grew her dogs, Brutus, Angelica and Judas, they destroyed her hillbilly tank, Mush, four warehouses and a hundred Merchants. Squealer had targeted Jim. While that was going on Alice had added to the mayhem with about a hundred of her bombs. For the same reason. Jim had to go into his registered bounty hunter drill with the local cops and PRT. While the lawyers worked on buying all the derelict property in the area. It was cheaper than fixing it.

Reality Intrudes

Emily Piggot looked at the report after she got to the PRT headquarters. "Paladin, the cape killer. Going after Merchants. What the actual fuck?"

The conference room full of PRT senior officers and the local Protectorate leader and his second blinked, then a few of them chuckled. Stacy Green, the intelligence officer, sighed "Someone put twenty million dollars on Skidmark. Alive. No dead bounty, but recently Paladin has turned over a new leaf and got a partner, he has started going nonlethal."

Armsmaster, the local Protectorate leader corrected "Two partners. That was Hellhound. The other one is a tinker."

Emily winced "A tinker who builds bombs."

Ms. Militia, the second in command of the protectorate nodded "Bakuda. The one who killed Nilbog and sterilized Ellsberg. Single use devices she calls them, not bombs. She did say she could build some bombs if we paid enough."

Stacy nodded "The bounty came from Chicago so they will have moved on. Hopefully he will go back to hunting the Nine."

Emily grunted "The Nine are the four or five. Every bounty hunter in the country is following them around. The money is too good and he took the Siberian and Shatterbird. Their best defensive assets. And Bonesaw, their doctor. If Bonesaw's tinker tech needs maintenance, like a regular tinker, that may kill the rest of them, or at least reduce their capability. One of those bounty hunters may hit the lottery."

"Paladin will wait until it isn't a free fire zone near them before he tries them again. Right now, he would have to fight his way out with a capture or kill. It's like the opening day of deer season. He took off Bonesaw, that was his lottery win. Well, Manton and Shatterbird as well. That's why we got that warning and stepped up intelligence gathering and increased our patrols around Panacea. Jack will be after a healer, why not get the best."

Henry Glass, Alpha Strike team commander, whistled "Good luck getting here Jack. Last report has the Nine down to him and Crawler. The others fled and are being pursued. Somebody hit Mannequin with a Hellfire missile. He hasn't been seen since. That bounty is in escrow and paying that hunters legal bills. He is fighting off the Army as they accused him of stealing it. He says he used demilled parts."

"Bounty Hunters are coming out of the woodwork the world over. As it turns out crime does pay, the bounty hunters anyway." The others around the table chuckled ruefully. The Bounty hunters, at least the new ones, were becoming a problem, more of a problem.

"I am working on some technology, Bakuda used a device to put people in stasis in Boston. She also deployed a gray boy type effect. That was apparently an attempt to understand the gray boy effect areas. Fortunately for Boston she used it on the Teeth. There are sixty three of them including four capes trapped in the effect. The Butcher is in suspended animation that can be reversed. She used it again last night. Several injured merchants are in time bubbles. It is probably all that is saving them. The thinkers believe she was originally trying to understand the bubbles, trying to break them for the reward. The device I am working on with Dragon should do the same as her stasis device, the one she used on the Butcher. It should contain Crawler." Armsmaster supplied.

Stacy sighed "That's why Paladin is here. She's cracked it. Now they need a healer to start taking people out of the bubbles. I bet they are in negotiations with New Wave and this Merchant thing was just something to do while that went on."

"From our interviews it was all going well and heading for a nonlethal takedown of Mush and Skidmark until Squealer showed up and engaged Paladin. Hellhound then went off on her and Bakuda joined in, taking down every Merchant in the area. She apparently even time stopped those Squealer had injured while Hellhound's minions demolished Squealers tank and carried her off. "

Emily nodded then frowned and asked "No kills? Also, what happened to Squealer?"

Ms. Militia nodded "Some pretty severe wounds. Squealer will need Panacea. Those beasts took an arm and a leg, but Bakuda put her in stasis with what appears to be a paintball marker shooting one of her devices."

Henry chuckled "Right in the ass. Then those monsters ran away with her."

Ms. Militia nodded "Vindictive. The others she put in stasis were shot in the fleshy part of the bicep. The rounds did not go through. They apparently dissolve as or when they do their thing. The weapon is a sixty eight caliber paintball marker, tinked somehow. It has many times the range it should and apparently adjustable velocity. It is fully automatic with a rate of about four hundred rpm.

Stacy nodded "More data points, but it backs up what we thought. Bakuda and Paladin are romantically involved and Hellhound views him as her Alpha."

Emily nodded "Possibly. Alternatively, they are just shacking up together. Bakuda is using him as a shield. She is a tinker, he is not a parahuman, enhanced but still normal. If you encounter them be professional. Also, everyone needs to brush up on the laws regarding bounty hunters and bond agents. They are different than the laws regarding capes or normal citizens. Paladin is probably who took down Hookwolf, Storm Tiger, and Cricket, along with Oni Lee. Now that he has taken out the Merchants, expect him to go after Lung next. That is the largest remaining bounty in the area."

The meeting broke up and Ms. Militia stayed at the subtle sign Director Piggot gave her. Once everyone else had left Emily asked "How is Armsmaster really taking it?"

Ms. Militia snorted "He and Dragon are in his lab all the time. Her by telepresence. This stasis and gray boy effect has them fascinated. Like all the other tinkers. Gray boy zones have always fascinated them, and the rewards are in the billions for the one that breaks them."

"They took Squealer."

Ms. Militia nodded "And Mush. Oddly Squealer doesn't have anything other than property damage on her record yet. I suspect his tinker is going to try to rehabilitate her like they did Hellhound."

Emily arched a brow "I wouldn't call ripping someone limb from limb with your minions rehabilitated."

Ms. Militia shrugged "Bakuda was talking about watching Panacea heal her so she could duplicate the effect. She is like Armsmaster somewhat. Tinker arrogance perhaps? If she actually breaks, or has broken, the gray boy zones, I'm not sure it is all arrogance."

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose "Tinkers." Ms. Militia chuckled. "So now I have a superpower hitter making Brockton Bay home."

Ms. Militia shrugged "He will clean up the others?"

Emily laughed bitterly "He will attract idiots if anyone figures out he has finally gone to ground here. He has been doing this since I was in the basic course, he never had a home before."

"It was laughable when he started. Something crazy people did and they didn't last long. They normally had partners as well. He worked alone, built his intelligence and networks for years then started killing the ones with kill orders and picking up the bounties. Two years ago he started on S class threats. Now he has destroyed the Nine, the Teeth and Nilbog. And he is in my area."

"The laws governing bounty hunters are unassailable and have been tested all the way to the Supreme Court on multiple occasions. Capes laugh at them right up until they are a corpse being packaged for turn in. Villainous Capes anyway. I suspect that is about to change. I hope Paladin can live up to his name. All I don't need is him dying on my front steps."

Ms. Militia nodded. Emily dismissed her with a wave.


	8. Chapter 8

Reality Intrudes

8

Carol Dallon looked at the email and blinked. Ten thousand dollars to heal Squealer. Carol drummed her fingers "Healing for money Amy?"

Amy, her adopted daughter, nodded "Not only that but I am not healing for free at the hospital anymore either. Doctors, nurses, the hospital, x-ray techs even, get paid. Did you see the records? The hospitals have been billing medicare or the state for what I do."

Carol nodded, she was furious about that. It had blown her program with Amy up right in her face. Her biological daughter Victoria, Glory Girl, added "Plus running around with Paladin is the safest place for Amy." That was another thing. Victoria was furious at her over that whole hospital thing.

Carol's eyes widened comically "You know that might be true. At least for as long as his girlfriend needs her. There are thousands of those Gray Boy bubbles and the rewards for them are huge. I have been resisting but I think it's time to open negotiations on reward splits."

Vicky beamed at her sister "You are going to be rich!" Amy blushed.

Reality Intrudes

The blond girl was pulled into an alleyway with a Boardwalk enforcer gripping each upper arm. One of them took out his phone and dialed. The next thing the girl knew she was lying on the ground and a muscular blond girl was picking up the phone "Who is this. No, I haven't made a mistake. My name is Bitch. Paladin wants to have a talk with you." Bitch looked at the phone. "He hung up. The little weasel." The other blond laughed a bit hysterically. Bitch looked at her "I've been watching you. Sort of. Come on. Paladin wants a thinker."

Sarah Livsey, AKA Lisa Wilbourn blinked "Uh, I'll pass?" Bitch just looked at her. Lisa sighed "Nice. You didn't even need the guns." Bitch sighed and pulled Sarah to her feet.

Reality Intrudes

Taylor sat in the principal's office. She had a black eye and a bloody nose. She was also a bit dazed. It had been a bad day. Sophia, Emma, and Madison had started first thing. She had handled them, then found one of her usual crowd hemmed up by a bunch of Empire prospects. Maria, a sweet, shy, Hispanic girl. Taylor had tried to get the Nazi's to back off. The ABB Prospects had gotten involved, maybe because Maria looked a little Asian? It had turned into a full-blown war. Some kid had gotten her in a choke hold and as she went out something had happened. Then Taylor was in her first knife fight before she knew it. Then everyone was amazed as she tore the kid with the knife a new asshole. Unfortunately, they didn't stay amazed but Taylor had been the last one standing. She had left fist holes in the concrete block walls for gods sake. Well that and a hall full of moaning or unconscious gangers. Her people were all on their feet and looking around with silly grins on their faces though. Then Someone started that Regulators rap crap and the rent a cops had moved in.

Now her whole crew was sitting in the offices grinning stupidly at each other around split lips and black eyes.

Danny was in the office raging at Principle Blackwell. Taylor had had enough. "Dad let's just go."

Danny froze mid knife hand and turned his head to her then back to Blackwell "This isn't over Blackwell." He turned away to Taylor and took her arm at first then put an arm around her shoulders. As they left the building he smiled "Rachel's training paid off."

Taylor snorted "I triggered Dad. I was punching holes in the walls. I didn't even hurt my hands. That's got to be a brute rating. All this" she waved at her face "is from the start of it all."

Danny sighed "Well Panacea is coming by this afternoon to talk to Alice. Maybe she can check you over. It could have been adrenalin. You know like moms lifting cars off kids and stuff."

Taylor eyed him from the passenger seat of the car "So, less freaked out than I thought."

Danny laughed "The cape killer is my neighbor. Nice guy. Drives a truck, owns a freight transfer and brokerage outfit, a couple of new semi-trucks too. They specialize in high security freight. His girlfriend is a tinker. My daughter's friend, who is on their team and lives with them, is Hellhound. She has casual sex, or something, with Paladin." Taylor's jaw dropped. Danny glanced at her and laughed "I saw them bring Squealer in. Couldn't sleep. Then I saw the video on PHO. I backed up and did some reading."

"You have a PHO account?" Taylor was amazed. Danny glared at her a bit.

Reality Intrudes

Amy lifted her hand from Taylor's brow. "Definitely a parahuman."

Vicky beamed and spun where she was hovering. Taylor flopped back on the massage table. Rachel huffed and moved up to rest a hand on Taylor. Lisa, as she had decided to be called, looked at Taylor. "It's weird. You haven't really used your power, or your main one. Oh god." She grabbed her head.

Amy stepped over and touched her "Thinker headache. This will help some."

Lisa sighed and let herself be guided down on the other massage table "Master, Trump. Master like Rachel, some kind of animal. But that's not it really. Your trump is all about defense. There is a brute and breaker in Winslow. You trumped off of them, copied their powers. Maybe even more powerful than them."

Paladin, Jim, whistled "Two capes? This town is weird. Arcadia has all the wards, that's what four, five? Plus four of you New Wave kids. So eight in Arcadia, at least three in Winslow probably three in the other schools. That's a lot of high powered kids. Normal ratio is ten to one so for every one of you ten super powered kids there are ten with minor powers."

Victory shook her head "One of the wards goes to a middle school, one is in some other school than Arcadia. Then wherever the Nazi's go. Rune at least should still be in school."

"Amy has always said there are a lot of capes here. Ten to one? Really?"

Lisa nodded "Like rats, if you see one there are ten. Most powers, well a lot of powers people don't even realize. They just think they are lucky, or weird shit happens around them. You second generations though, and you got major powers. Maybe it's genetic?"

Jim nodded "Proving my point. Most towns of three hundred thousand don't have near this many capes. Something isn't right about this place."

Alice waved him off "We will look into it later. Panacea can you heal Squealer and clean the drugs out of her system? I want to try to make her into something."

Panacea nodded and shrugged "Sure, that's what I came for and your payment cleared. Thanks for this by the way. Taylor thanks for setting it up."

Taylor smiled at Panacea "Least I could do. You did check me and fix my eye and nose."

"Which was after you set all this up." Panacea turned and looked at Danny and Jim.

Jim chuckled as they left. Jim tossed "Like we haven't seen Squealer mostly naked already." over his shoulder as the two left. Amy walked behind the screen set up around the last massage table.

Amy looked Squealer over with Alice then asked "What is this IV fluid?"

"Mostly glucose, in a saline base. Lots of soluble proteins and fats. We will need to add calcium maybe some minerals and vitamins and squeeze the bags. We have her arm and leg in stasis as well. I can bring all of them out together." Alice shrugged.

Amy nodded "Let's try putting it all back together before I try regrowing any parts." She touched the IV bags and nodded "This could work really well. I can convert any biomass but the less I have to work on that the better I can work on the actual healing and repair."


	9. Chapter 9

Reality Intrudes

9

Danny looked at Jim "So, Rachel?"

Jim sat at the kitchen table in the Hebert's house and shrugged "Bi? I turned her gay? Alice turned her? No idea. I don't think she will hurt Taylor."

Danny nodded "Oh I got that. Brutus watching me like a hawk was my first clue. How old is Rachel?"

Jim scratched his chin "No more than eighteen as far as we, and the State, can tell. Lucky as fuck, maybe used up her luck surviving being born in some drug house somewhere, her mom not going to the hospital or anything, so, she just kind of appears as what her mother claimed was a two year old one day at the State aid office where they were living. The State took her away of course, probably saved her. Then she went in the system with no luck and got shuffled through a few bad fosters. Next thing you know she is with one that was emotionally and mentally abusive and she triggered at fourteen or so, three years ago."

Danny nodded "So just eighteen."

Jim shrugged "Alice is working on enhancing and educating her and she is a hard worker. I work on training her to fight, teaching her to drive, working with her and her dogs and teaching her how to teach dog handlers."

"She and Alice went all out on the merchants." Danny said.

Jim shook his head and chuckled "Not even close. Those dogs will kill if she tells them to. Alice is fucking scary. She can do anything as long as it starts with a bang. Some part of the reaction needs to be exothermic for it to work with her power, but it can be what starts it, and it doesn't have to be an uncontrolled exothermic reaction or generate a shock wave. Powers are strange."

"But you don't have powers, you aren't a null, a power negating trump." Danny arched a brow.

Jim sighed "Wouldn't that have made life easier. If it wasn't for my pension I would have starved for the first six years I was a hunter. Sure I picked up skips, a few straight bounties, lots of crime stoppers rewards but that barely kept me in gas and food. Then I got mauled and that healer did her thing and well. Here I am, the modern Casca. Not a parahuman, an enahanced human built by a parahuman."

"What I have now is a network of information gatherers, a good law firm, and my own experience and skills, well, plus being tougher than most, stronger than most, impervious to the weather and having shaper eyesight and hearing than most."

Danny chuckled "And by most you mean anyone ever tested, as far as the ones you have let test you know of or can discover."

"Yeah, that." Jim nodded.

"So where do you go from here?" Danny asked.

Jim shrugged "ABB, Nazi's and druggies. Lots of money still walking around. Hit one a day until there isn't so much money walking around here."

Danny snorted "Marquis, All Father, Iron Rain, Blasto, Teeth, The Slaughterhouse Nine, they have all been here. They won't quit coming."

Jim grinned "So I can save money on fuel?"

"If you get my daughter killed I am going to find out how immortal you are. One way or another." Danny informed him bluntly.

Jim nodded "I'll do my best for her, Rachel and Alice too. Plus I do still feel pain, so you know, no going off halfcocked. Say, I got a plan, how about you and some people you trust looking it over?"

"I'll call Kurt and Lacey. Mark Hauser too. Tyrone as well." Danny replied.

Reality Intrudes

"That's stupid." Sarah blinked "Jeeze, were you born in the dark? Was it last night? People get killed by capes every day, day in day out. Cops and Robbers my ass. Murdering scum and law enforcement mostly. Of course there are those scattered in there that are just trying to live their lives and be left the fuck alone." Jim tossed his hands up.

Lacey nodded "Cape blindness. Happened to Lustrum, got her the Birdcage. Capes forget normal are people too."

Danny added "That's what made Annette get out of Lustrums organization. Of course it had already gone bad by then."

Lacey nodded "Yeah, we had to have help. Glad she had that crazy boyfriend with the cargo hooks and the baseball bats."

Kurt sighed "And the friends. I get no respect."

"But you do get the pusmmph." Lacey's eye crinkled as she grinned at Danny over his hand which was across her mouth.

Danny glared at her "Children."

Jim laughed. "Anyway, it's OK Sarah. I mean it's what let me make my big money. It never occurred to them that a normal could hit them. All I had to do was stay out of the range of their effects and pow, money shot." He grinned as the girls all wrinkled their noses and gave him 'ewws'. "Most capes are vulnerable as anyone else. Less than one percent are Alexandria like, about the same amount of tinkers and regenerators."

"It's not the capes that keep each other in line, it's the three hundred million guns in this country before shiny ass showed up. Americans had the balls to leave where they were and to either ignor or resist the government's efforts to take away their weapons. An armed society may not be a polite society but notice this isn't Europe, a post-apocalyptic wasteland after Scion and capes. That whole continent went back to being manorial and most of the manors don't belong to capes. Africa is hell, but it was before too. Fought there a couple times. Truly a benighted continent. Not even the endbringers bother with it. Think about the fact that the places with the highest numbers of capes are the places where guns are most restricted. Everybody knows misery makes capes. How many you heard of from the Dakotas, Arkansas, Kansas?

Sarah gathered up her wounded pride "I actually prefer Lisa. So, you have this whole computer full of plans that you have been working on for years. Most of them look good, if we completely ignore the unwritten rules, what do you need me for?"

Jim smiled "Kaiser is Max Anders, CEO of the family held Medhall Corporation. How much money do you think he has? I want you to get it all, you get ten percent of whatever you can find and steal when we hit him."

"These fucking guys, if you leave them any resources at all, they will just bounce back unless you kill them. Since we aren't doing that anymore then they will be working against us during their trial and then from prison unless we strip them of everything."

"That will be your primary job. Checking plans, providing strategic and tactical intelligence will be the other part. If you can do other stuff great, you will get paid. Maybe that thinker brain can help the capes in the organization optimize their powers and get the most out of them. That kind of thing."

Danny frowned "Even without money they might be able to call in favors."

Alice grinned "Mines are up and the system will be autonomous after Lisa, Sherrel and I get done with it. That will just make is more money as it will freeze any hitters they send. Jim and I looked at every place we stay or work and checked every possible spot a shooter could use. They are all mined. Our cars are mined too. It would have to be up close and personal and we are training for that. Plus I am working on pistols for the rounds I built. Not lethal, and probably not concealable, but still the idiots will be frozen in time until I cut them loose."

Amy raised her hand "New Wave is going to want some of those."

Glory girl nodded "You guys to work over the houses and cars too."

Jim smiled "You need to take a look at all of that Lisa. Plus there are bound to be idiots out there who aren't in my plans yet."

Taylor added "Plus people trigger so we can find them and try to get them on the team. Before they go bad."

Jim nodded "Once we get all the on the hoof money taken out of here, well, Portland, Quebec, Boston, New York, let's not even talk about New Jersey. Lots of normal there have money on them."

Alice nodded "Infrastructure everywhere is fucked, junkyards, abandoned plants and mills, refineries, agriculture. We will be busy. Or you can take your chances with whoever that was fixing to hold a gun to your head." Lisa held her hands up in surrender.


	10. Chapter 10

Reality Intrudes

Chapter 10

"Stop laughing you old bastard. It isn't that funny." Alice glared at Jim. Jim who sat stone faced behind the wheel of the new truck driving to the yard to change to a bucket truck.

"I haven't said a word and I don't think I have changed expression once."

"That's how I know you are laughing your ass off you fuck."

Jim chuckled "Come on babe. It isn't that bad. Who could have known it would freeze her fifty feet in the air like that. We'll get the bucket truck and have her down in a jiffy. We got that clone making fella and these ABB clan chiefs so we are in profit for the night. Rachel and Taylor got into some big money crime stoppers idiots so they are good. Whole bed full of them in Rachel's truck. It's only eleven. We will be home by one at the latest. That was a hell of a snap shot too. I mean dodging that broken up concrete like that."

Alice huffed "I'm keeping that little bitch and retraining her."

Jim shrugged "She just got out of juvy. Not sure it's worth the time or effort. She isn't worth anything though."

Alice nodded and got out of the truck to climb in the passenger side of the bucket truck. One of the night crew took the pickup away to unload it. "We can use a flyer. Sherrel didn't take any effort at all."

Jim looked at her as he climbed in the driver's seat "So three hours a day of classes for her isn't much effort?"

Alice shrugged "Checking her work mostly. If she gets to where she can communicate in understandable English I will be happy. She is a hell of a tinker. She even understands what she builds. You should fuck her." Jim snorted. "No seriously. I'm pregnant, plus she could use some time where she is in total control, plus she is horny as hell but has no self-esteem. She will bring some idiot home. You fucking her would solve a lot of problems. Rachel is doing whatever she is doing with Taylor so it's not like it would be an imposition on your time."

Jim sighed "Maybe I got what I want right there. Plus Sherrel doesn't come out of her shop except to shower once a day, maybe to sleep, once every three or four days. We should do something about that. Not saying she isn't pretty and the cussing doesn't bother me, but She aint you."

"I appreciate that, really I do. It will prevent problems though." Alice tried her puppy dog eyes on Jim. He chuckled again. She huffed "Fine. Don't be surprised when you wake up with her on your cock if you are going to be obstinate. She will get to a more regular schedule when she figures out we aren't going to take the good tools and materials away. We have to build some trust."

Jim growled and Alice grinned. He changed the subject "Speaking of Sherrel, she got the superliners up to twelve miles a gallon."

Alice nodded "And not a btu of heat wasted. Wait until she gets the steam turbines hooked up to the generators instead of those triple expansion engines out of those oldest ships and the scrap yard. Now that we have the five axis mills and she has worked the transmissions and differentials over she can get building on those. That should take them to twenty miles a gallon with the turbines in line replacing the tail pieces on the transmissions."

Jim nodded "So, how does an engine with an aluminum piston run exhaust temperatures of eighteen hundred degrees?"

Alice answered absently "Big oil passages, oil sprayers pointed at the bottom of the pistons and the coolant passing through the oil cooler last after it gives up all its heat to the condensing boiler intake water. Its ambient temp when it passes through the cooler, knocks a hundred degrees off the oil temp. Pull up on the left. I want her facing away from you in the bucket."

Jim rolled his eyes "You are going to strip her aren't you. Why don't we just dart her? It's the hands that are dangerous not the shit she is carrying."

Alice nodded "Sure, if she didn't get someone to tink some autonomous shit."

Reality Intrudes

Jim looked over the gym area from the running track around the outside of it. Alice had gone completely crazy with the, bunker, underground base? Lair? Anyway the fucking thing was two hundred thousand square feet on three levels and getting bigger as she had workers digging to bedrock, a hundred feet down, seven stories. He probably should have put his foot down but she wanted the access to the bedrock to start mining and she got all kinds of shit from the dirt for her chemical works at the old refinery. Meh, it kept her busy. Horny and demanding to. He chuckled. Lisa glared at him "Her demanding you fuck her in every room of every facility she starts is some sort of psychosis you know."

"Keeps her happy. Which means she bitches less. Life isn't some Japanese shit anime. It ain't some legendary tale either. It's hard work, what did that dude say, nasty, brutal and short. Yeah, that about covers it." Jim shrugged. "And if momma isn't happy, nobody is happy."

"Except in your case." Lisa eyed him.

Jim nodded "Maybe. Meanwhile I can make a twenty year old Asian who could win a miss universe competition howl like a wolf and I get to shoot idiots for money. Don't even kill the fuckers now. Just freeze them in time. Took a while but as it turns out, maybe it ain't so bad."

"Alice gets to indulge her whims for inventing shit no one has ever seen or heard of. Sherrel gets to build her monster trucks, sweet rides, as she calls them, Rachel gets to play with her dogs, Taylor gets trained and some support in taking over the fucking world and remaking it in her starry eyed, rosy tinted, image and you get to help her do it by corrupting that fucking OCD freak from Boston's plans and having fun doing it."

"Chill Lisa. Need some sex?"

"Yes. NO! Goddamnit!" Lisa leapt up and fisted her hips stomping her foot at Jim.

Jim fell over laughing. He eventually managed "I didn't mean with me. If you want though we can knock it out."

"Not here. No! Goddamnit!" Lisa stomped off. Jim brayed like a donkey.

Heidi, Rune, looked at the running track and snorted "That frucking dude is weird."

Alice narrowed her eyes "What did I tell you about racist humor?" She tossed a small tube at Runes feet.

Heidi screamed when it exploded. "Fucking bitch! Stop with the pain crackers. I swear to god!"

Rachel shrugged "Negative and positive reinforcement training. Beats just threatening your family, or having you raped."

Heidi shook herself and grimaced "OK fine. Damn. Hey speaking of shitheads. You know Kaiser isn't going to let this stand and the videos of you and Jim taking me are on PHO. He is going to come calling."

"Fucking hope so. I made a shit load of those freeze mines. Goddam things soak up resources like you can't believe. Billions of gallons of sea water and sewage to harvest that. Palladium is cheap at a thousand dollars an ounce compared to some of that shit. If it wasn't for all the other shit we get from the water and sell off we would have to sell pussy or drugs to afford it. OK enough fucking off, back to exercise. Jim likes his women muscular." Alice clapped and made shooing motions.

Heidi rolled her eyes "Like I want to bang the old folks."

Rachel shrugged "I like em muscular too."

Heidi snorted "Taylor would kill you, cradle robber."

Taylor walked up behind Heidi "Nope. We can do you together. You can be my birthday present." Heidi leapt in the air yelping as the others laughed.

Later Heidi looked at Taylor "You aren't gay."

Taylor grinned "Not anything yet. Child of my era? Girls are hot but maybe that's the advertisers having an effect. Boys can be hot too."

Lisa laughed "Muscles are what you think is hot. You are as bad as Jim." She snatched Taylor's shampoo. They were all in the shower attached to the gym.

Taylor shrugged "I don't think it's bad?"

Rachel, five foot eight inches and a hundred and forty five pounds at about ten percent body fat smiled and flexed a bit. Taylor blushed and the others chuckled. Then they blushed. Rachel was pretty fucking hot. Taylor huffed. She was still waiting on some more 'shape'. Though with the diet and exercise she had picked up a cup size. A pleasing development, even while she leaned out and added lots of muscle to her tall frame.

Heidi asked "School?"

Alice grunted "Fuck those idiots. We run a better school. Max you out. Got any friends you trust? Bring them along."

"Price of admission fucking the old guy?" Heidi arched a brow.

Sherrel snorted "You wish. I still haven't gotten him on this. Of course having access to all the tools and materials I want is a little distracting. Soon though I am going to have to do something about it. All work and no play you know?"

"Yellow fever?" Heidi watched Alice's hands.

Lisa shook her head "No or he would never leave the pickers break room. Different, not not interested but not like boys or men we are used to. He doesn't think about it near as often. More like a woman in that regard. Still tactile though. Not getting off in his head like we can."

Sherrel grunted "You can. I need something to get there, something other than my thoughts."

Taylor sighed "It sucks to have to build models of people though Lisa. We will find you someone." Lisa gave her a small smile.


	11. Chapter 11

Reality Intrudes

11

People were idiots. The best clothes in the world couldn't keep you from losing heat, not needing to piss, fart, shit, your limbs from going numb. They thought military issue stuff was magic, apparently. They forgot that it was designed for a job but that job wasn't being impervious to weather or preventing the loss of heat totally. Heat stroke was a thing after all.

Yep people were idiots. The way soldiers did this shit was by practicing it and doing it. Through the pain and deprivation. Get in your hide, stay still, stay awake, alert, and use the best field craft you had to not emit anything, or die. Oh, by the way, be better at target acquisition and a better shot than the person on the other side trying to do the same shit. Then be better at escape and evasion, mounted or dismounted, than the fucks that chased you after the shot. Or die. In training it was fine, you got to live with a paintball welt. But when it went live, well that separated the wheat from the chaff.

Silver, blue, red, gold suits of tinker bullshit body armor didn't lend themselves to any of that. Brightly colored spandex didn't either. So, they were never going to look like hero's. Not if they were going to be effective. Effective in the real world on real events. PR wasn't that. It was in some other realm. It needed to be managed, but if you were trying to survive it wasn't essential.

Of course, now with six capes and lots of unpowered people maybe they should work on it more. Jim probably had it handled though 'concentrate on your training and powers.' Taylor sighed quietly, it was probably the right way to go. She put her eye on the scope and watched Rachel approach the guy they were pretty sure was the darkness cape with Brutus beside her. She didn't like this at all. Rachel was a better close fighter and with Brutus right there would probably be unbeatable. It was the probably part that bothered her.

Of course, Rachel would get all possessive again if she knew Taylor was being possessive. Lisa thought it was hilarious. Right up until she drooled over Jim some more. Not that he wasn't drool worthy. Six feet, and two hundred twenty pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal. Still a candidate for the father of her kids. Rachel's too. The leading candidate right now. Rachel having already 'test driven' him as she said. That's if she stayed Bi, or Gay, or interested in Rachel, whatever it was her body and brain was doing. Puberty, even this far into it, sucked ass. It was the muscles she was fairly sure. It didn't seem to matter what sex they were attached to. She was so shallow, it was embarrassing.

The girls in her crew eyeing her like a side of beef wasn't helping. Maybe they should do a slumber party and get it out of every ones system. What was it about her that attracted girls? It's the media's fault. Idolizing teenage girls.

Well that was quick, Taylor turned her radio to VOX "That was quick."

"Job offer Babe. Not his life story, yet. Pretty buff, you will like him."

Taylor blushed "I got what I want. Drive over here, I will meet you behind the building." She could see Rachel's grin from here. She would get mauled in the truck again. Taylor chuckled. Nice way to warm up. She could do some mauling of her own too. Taylor giggled. Brutus would curl up in the back with his nose stuck in his butt again.

Reality Intrudes

Jim finally took his eyes off the monitors and Sherrel grinned and led him away. Lisa rolled her eyes. Alice snorted "Wait until you get back in the swing of things. This little asexual shtick you got going isn't going to hold up, you can't read him at all. We see you looking."

Lis looked at her "You really aren't jealous at all. What the fuck?"

Alice shrugged "No idea. So that Grue shit all went nicely. Found this Hijack kid yet?"

Lisa nodded "Binghampton, New York, of all places. Got a number for him. We can work him by phone. Still not sure about him. One of the teams can get on him as we work him. If it goes sideways we can at least get the money for him."

Alice shrugged "If he is a fuck I'll put a bomb in his head. All those Heartbreaker kids are worth at least fifty K apiece. Depends on his power and how good he can get with it."

Lisa nodded, that was the plan after all. "Heidi?"

"Sorted. Press ganged by her family, who she isn't fond of. Jim she is becoming fond of and she tolerates the rest of us." Alice supplied, then waggled her eyebrows ridiculously.

Lisa nodded thoughtfully "The Empire will come for her."

Alice nodded "Makes it easier when we just have to get them out of the fence. The magnetic grapple on that high lifter can reach them even in the overhead fields."

Lisa giggled "Leet is still posting hate videos about whoever stole his snitch."

"Perfect delivery system and Sherrel worked it to. Freaking things can lift full ISO boxes. Now they have that invisibility thing too. Amazing how simple they were. Of course, he stole the audio and video part from Sherrel. Back up camera and vehicle stereo if you can believe it." Alice shrugged. "Before you ask, we are making a couple grand a day off of idiots trying either places we have secured or trucks, ABB, Empire and former Merchants. That's just here. Paladin Security turns probably a hundred grand a day in idiots besides the picked-up skips and bounties the other hunters and lawyers turn up. That is actually helping to grow the business, barely, those time stop rounds do in fact cost a metric shit ton to make. Economies of scale may help with that eventually, but eventually it all ends up in profit. High risk bail bonds aren't cheap and Paladin has cornered the high-risk market. We even got our own bondsmen now. Meanwhile Jim is working on our individual training then we will work small unit, and finally whole team training for a Gray Boy site. Jim thinks that will draw someone to take a shot at us as we work it and he wants everyone ready."

Lisa nodded "The ones in Boston certainly. Accord isn't going to take that laying down."

Alice shrugged "He is worth a couple mil. His minions too. The Butcher is the real prize there. A hundred mil. The PRT must be pissed over losing her. We tried to tell them. We will time stop her next time. If we have to do her again Jim is killing her. While we work the sites, we can make some side money if they will oblige us with an attack. Most of the Gray Boy sites are like that. Major villains close. We can take them one way or the other."

Lisa nodded "And Hat?"

Alice shrugged "Bitch shows up I got something for her. Fucking shadow government shit. I'll teach those bastards. Meanwhile the organization is constantly refining intel around the Gray Boy sites. If I could make enough stuff we could fence them all off now and start making money on those idiots near them. Palladium, we are getting most of what we get from the water and street run off projects we are selling. That and cleaning up junkyards. Shit is hard to purify though. Then making it unstable is difficult to. Getting enough is the hold up. You would think nickel or platinum would work but they don't. Osmium isn't cheap either. Same methods of recovery though. Garbage dumps though. Fountain pens and record player needles if you can believe it. Finding and mining dumps is cheap and makes us look good. The government dumps are the best. Well the ones from the second world war." Lisa looked at her and started laughing. Alice pouted.

Reality Intrudes

"It's cultural." Alice nodded firmly.

Jim looked at her and raised a brow. The pickers were in short shorts and halter tops. Tiny halter tops and short shorts. He had never seen this much side boob and butt cheek anywhere outside of a titty bar. Platform wedges too. That couldn't be safe. Were those safety toes? "That one is Russian, a Korean there, a Ukrainian, a Pol, Hmong, Chinese, and Japanese, who knows what that one is."

"Fucking hot, those tits are perfect. Go bang her. She looks pretty ripe." Alice gave his immobile shoulder a push.

Jim sighed and led her away. The women looked at each other and gave earthy chuckles. Alice was right. Jim was going to crack soon and fuck somebody. Once they got the gates open they could keep them open with a steady stream of ready, willing, and able women. He was perfect and Alice was willing to share. Who wanted one around full time? Alice could deal with that. She was all nesty and domestic. Besides he rode her hard and put her away wet at least once a day. She got to get her domineering out too. Jim was safe as houses and would do what they wanted.

Reality Intrudes

Jim looked at the fence and scratched his head. Then he got out his cell phone and called the non-emergency number for the BBPD "Good Morning. Yes. I have about a hundred people stuck in my security fence. That girlfriend of Paladin's, yes. 1204 Seawise Avenue. Thanks. Yes, if Paladin shows up I will let him have them, no problem. Yes, I will be pressing charges. Those mine things aren't cheap." Jim hung up and went to get the high lifter with the magnetic claw. "Might as well get the ones I know are worth anything out of there. That albino dude for sure."

"Alabastor." Alice and the workers joined him and took cell phone video. Well the workers and drivers did. Alice cursed, a lot.


	12. Chapter 12

Reality Intrudes

12

"Fuck Lisa, you can't actually be this ignorant. This must be your particular damage from triggering. The Empire kills people, they do it on an amazingly regular basis. When they aren't killing, they are raping, pimping, dealing drugs, running guns, and enforcing protection rackets. All that criminal enterprise shit."

"Of course there are people who want to pay for their capes, the lieutenants of their organization. An auction for Alabaster is the best way to maximize the profit we can make out of him for the resources we put into capturing him. These others too. If the Government wants them they can pony up the money for them and if the winning bidder wants him unfrozen rather than using him as a hat rack they can pay for that. The others? If their family or the government wants them unfrozen after the trail and their sentence then they can make payments. We charge replacement cost for the mines they got caught in, our cost, and the cost to store them. Fortunately for these it was two mines. So the cost per person is ninety eight hundred bucks. Add in ten percent for cost rise in replacement material and labor and call it an even ten grand. Once they pay it off they get their idiots unfrozen."

"If no one pays, they stay frozen until the government figures out a way to make us unfreeze them by order of the courts or pays." Jim told her.

Alice nodded "Some of that ten is the unfreezing too. That shit isn't free or cheap."

Lisa frowned "But the rules-"

"What fucking laws?" Jim asked. Lisa blinked and subsided. Jim nodded "That's right. Fuck the 'rules'. We do what the law requires and not one iota more, or less. The letter of the law too, not the spirit. If they want us to do it they can write it down and the lawyers can try to break it in court. If they can't, we will do it and document it. We have to to stay in business, we are in this for the money, it's not some big adventure or game and I did my service to country years ago. If we weren't freezing them I would be shooting them. Not to wound their stupid asses either. Self-defense against gang bangers with weapons is amazingly easy to prove."

"This little debacle should prove to the empire of idiots that they don't want to fuck with us. Will it? No. Sometime in the next twenty four hours most of their capes will get frozen along with probably most of the rest of their foot soldiers. Capes can't help themselves, they think powers mean immortality or something. They also think they are better than everyone, or some of them do. The more powerful they are the more blind they are. Sadly nearly everyone can be killed somehow." Lisa nodded.

"Everything can be killed. If nothing else I can sap the heat out of it and it will die at zero kelvin. I got that one working." Everyone turned and looked at Alice "What? Oh, nah, localized effect, I think. Going to make a hell of a jet of heat though. Probably don't want to be around it. Not sure where that jet is going really. It's a little strange."

Taylor face palmed and said "Maybe you could work on directing the jet?"

Sherrel nodded "If we can I got a use for all that heat."

Alice grumbled "Might as well, have to do everything by computer with waldos and robots now. Somebody doesn't want me around chemicals for some reason."

Amy Dallon put her fist on her hips and tapped her foot "Somebody couldn't be bothered to take her birth control."

Rachel grunted "Shower." And walked out of the gym.

Danny looked at Jim "The houses probably get the freeze bombs."

Jim nodded "Alice set the rest up already. Amazing how many associations our people tracked. Of course having Bounty Hunters and Bond Agents all over the country now, we were always going to have to spend on security. A hundred and twenty eight million dollars' worth of materials for mines, cameras, software, weapons, ammunition, electronics. Those missile silos and command bases the government sold off. Got them cheap, thank god. Plus the people to set it all up though? If Sherrel and Alice weren't making the crap I would already be broke. That will never turn profitable, well not for eight years, or until some big name idiots with big bounties do some idiot shit and get caught in one. Lung could help me out, the lazy fuck. I'll never make enough to retire."

Danny laughed "So still able to claim nonprofit status huh? You would be bored anyway. Plus then that house full of women could concentrate on you."

Jim groaned. "It's the American dream. I want to dream a little. Take the grandkids to a ballgame, sit around the table at thanksgiving, all that Rockwell shit."

Danny arched a brow, then sighed and nodded his head "Don't we all. Too bad it only happens for the few."

Reality Intrudes

Emily Piggot pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. She was sitting in the daily ops briefing and the G2 was briefing. Stacy paused, she knew a question was coming. Emily obliged "So, there is an online auction going on as we speak for Alabaster, and the bidding is up to four point nine million dollars."

Stacy nodded "Yes. As you will remember, this has become more common, well it was common before, at least in the case of capes caught by Hunters, common enough there have been court cases and precedent set. The bid numbers weren't normally this high, as not many Hunters would take a contract other than a kill contract on a parahuman and we are the only ones that can issue those, or rather the courts on our recommendation and request. The private bounties are more sites where people can anonymously contribute money to accounts for the capture or killing of certain criminals. Sort of a go fund me for taking out ass hats. Those pots of money build up and if a Hunter can provide evidence they get the pot. Paladin made most of his money there. In the case of Oni Lee negotiations are proceeding, rather than a public sale."

Emily nodded. Assault glared "And this is all legal. The Supreme Court has already ruled on it. They have also ruled that the Hunters are not responsible for what happens to the people they sell, all sales are final."

Velocity smirked "Bad time to be a criminal I guess. Took him what, almost ten years but Paladin has hit his stride. Six A listers and six B list ass hats so far. The Siberian, Harbinger, Shatterbird, Bonesaw, Heartbreaker, Nilbog then Skidmark, Hookwolf, Storm Tiger, Cricket, Oni Lee and now Alabastor"

Dauntless shook his head "He hasn't gotten Alabaster transferred yet. Skidmark is on display in that God Fathers yard in Chicago. Plus Hookwolf was an A list problem don't you think?"

Armsmaster nodded "Six B list still though. He reformed Squealer. Hookwolf was still B list if barely. Oni Lee falls in that same group If we are only counting A class threats. Paladin has kept a remarkable balance in reducing the abilities of the local parahuman gangs."

Emily scowled "That disposition of Squealer remains to be seen. The lawyers are still arguing. That may be in the courts for a while. As for this supposed balance I think that is more accidental than deliberate. Like an apex predator taking the weakest first. He didn't deliberately set out after Hookwolf or Oni Lee, they were incidental to his other operations. Breaking up the dogfighting for Hellhound and stopping the trafficking at Bakuda's behest. Alabastor was certainly him being caught due to his own stupidity. Rune started a fight she couldn't win and was absorbed. Paladin Security filed a blizzard of paperwork on her already."

Henry Glass laughed "Yeah, twenty or thirty years is a while in the courts I guess. The apex predator theory could be true but it has had the same effect as him deliberately balancing the groups heading for an elegant failure of the gangs."

Paul Renick, the Deputy Chief of the PRT ENE, cleared his throat "Meanwhile Kaiser is going to lose his mind."

Battery, finished glaring at Assault, shrugged "And the remainder of his powered and unpowered members if he tries again. Paladin Security has all their employees and associates family's houses secured just like that truck terminal west of the train yard. They contracted with Jones Trucking to do the transfers of these prisoners and apparently Squealer and Bakuda worked on the truck and trailer they do it with. The Jones Trucking rigs toss out those time stop grenades or fire suspended animation darts and freeze hijackers all over the country. Paladin Security then comes and gets them and turns them over to the local authorities and claims the crime stoppers rewards or bounties. Their rates are cheap too. Jones Trucking I mean."

Miss Militia nodded "Their insurance is half of what a normal truck has to pay. The other trucking lines are pretty upset but only Paladin teams can move the time stopped idiots and they don't have enough teams to do all the truck lines. Squealer has worked the tractors and trailers. They get double the fuel mileage of normal trucks. On top of that Paladin bought the old standard oil refinery for Bakuda and sell the fuel to Jones. At a steep discount."

Stacy nodded "Leaving the critical or high value cargos for Jones. The reason he buys a tractor, three tandem dollies, and four trailers a week and hires a driver team to go with them. As soon as they are through being vetted by Paladin Security there is a Squealer tinked rig waiting on them."

"The employees of Jones Trucking have the same security arrangements as Paladin security and bailbond employees. To include emergency time stop devices they carry so if someone tries to kidnap them they freeze themselves and Paladin comes and gets them out."

"They, Jones Trucking, has the only 'road train' permit in America and only between their freight depots using the interstates and special on and off ramps. Long ones originally planned to get tanks and military trucks up to speed."

"Additionally Purity remains out of play along with Night and Fog."

Armsmaster nodded "Which begs the question, when are they going to do their first Gray Boy site?"

Stacy shrugged "Soon I would guess. They have set up a training area in the boat graveyard. It's a full scale model of the scrapyard site in Boston and its environs for five blocks into the city and all the way to the waters edge including the docks near the scrapyard. Our own little Jeffries Point."

Triumph had a questioning look on his face "There weren't any Gray Boy areas in Brockton Bay from when the Nine visited and ran the Teeth off?"

Paul Renick shook his head "That was a little quick and really the Nine were concentrating on the Teeth. Then on surviving Marquis and All Father. Iron rain and Kaiser were not holding back either. I always thought Jack was trying to kill the Butcher for his powers. Apparently during their confrontation he changed his mind. The Nine taking on the Teeth might be the only good thing they ever did. They have killed some other villains along the way over the years though."

Emily waved a hand "What happens when Kaiser buys Alabastor?"

Stacy chuckled "Well, unless he wants a statue he will have to buy the unfreezing separately, From Paladin."

Emily snorted "Let's get Watchdog on figuring out who the bidders are."

Karen James, the Watchdog liaison nodded "Of note, Medhall has come under sustained financial attack."

Assault chuckled "One can only wonder why All Fathers Company is being mauled. What with the Ex US Army killer man in town." The others laughed. Assault shrugged "Makes you wonder who his son is." The others arched brows and Assault recited "I'm not the killer man, I'm the killer man's son. But I'll do the killing 'til the killer man comes."


	13. Chapter 13

Reality Intrudes

13

Kaiser growled as his latest line of blades was frozen. It was doing something odd to his powers. His formerly grand gestures and massive efforts were producing fewer and fewer blades. He had intended to push the mines out of the ground and breech the fence for his forces. As soon as anything was disturbed a mine went off, freezing the blades in a five yard circle in the process of growing.

Crusader was unconscious, over a hundred of his ghost frozen on the fence or the approaches to it. Victor was being healed by Othala again, he had been caught in a sniper duel with Paladin himself.

Kaiser was trapped in this though. He had to continue or he was lost. Lung was still out there and had not lost half his gang in attacking this freight terminal. Kreig leaned toward him "Its sapping your power. We need to withdraw and try something else."

Kaiser dropped his arm and breathed deeply. He postured for a moment then signaled the withdrawal. The Empire left leaving nearly a hundred members frozen in the fence but taking Crusader with them. A unconscious Crusader

Reality Intrudes

Alice scratched at her chin for a minute "Weird. It froze their power active and its using their power to maintain what is frozen?"

Jim shrugged and slid down stretching out in the bed "No clue, ask Lisa tomorrow. We had to send her to bed. We need to figure out something to fix those fucking headaches."

Alice turned away from the video monitor, rolled over onto him and wriggled down. Jim fake snored "Please, you know you want this Gaijin." Jim opened his eyes and smiled as he rolled her under himself and balled her up "Don't put dents in the baby's head."

Jim laughed "He, or she, is the size of a mouse. They'll be fine."

Reality Intrudes

Thomas Calvert sat in his wildly expensive bison leather covered armchair in his modest, well modest for a man of his means, twelve thousand square foot, expensively furnished, immaculate, MacMansion on its five acre zoned grounds and contemplated his problem. That problem being his lack of control. Oh not of his business, Fortress Construction. That hade made him more than moderately wealthy, Endbringer shelters of the highest specification and government contracts. Hence the house, one must keep up appearances and a mil five was nothing, modest even, compared to his peers in wealth. They had estates worth fifty million dollars and more. He was Warren Buffet by comparison. Well not in wealth. Buffet was still the top of that peer group. The man had to be a thinker.

He was also a parahuman. The one known as Coil. His ability allowed him to run two simulations, of a sort, at the same time, and pick which one he 'kept'. The lack of control? Lately he died in one of the timelines with no notice and astounding, metronomic regularity. Forcing him into the other timeline where he would immediately split again and die moments to hours later in the one that was going best for him. Thomas blinked. Was that it? His success was gathering enemies and they were taking him out? But he had died in his civilian identity twenty nine times. Slightly more in his Coil identity but only slightly. Someone knew his civilian identity? Or, someone hated Thomas Calvert enough to kill him. Coil was a villain and as a Villain with a capitol V, well, enemies were a requirement weren't they? The more powerful your enemies the bigger villain you were right? So who hated Thomas Calvert enough to kill him? A former PRT member? A current one? His consultant duties sometimes brought him into conflict with members of the PRT. Those type of people were liable, likely even to solve their problems with violence. A business rival from his activities as Fortress Constructions owner and chairman? One of his other business interest? Accord?

Thomas sighed, he had some work to do apparently. He winced as Coil died again and split the timeline almost automatically at this point. Coil stayed in the base and sent out another body double. Not that it would do any good. They had a life expectancy of days at the most. Thankfully, painfully thin six foot two men were not hard to come by. The voice changers were bog standard and cheap as well. So was spandex, and he bulk ordered the costumes. His was custom tailored to fit over the body armor that was doing him no good right now. Even with it on he died.

Reality Intrudes

Jim looked at the fence and kept running around the track at the edge of the freight depot. Taylor and Rachel running behind him of course had something to say. Taylor opined "Those are new."

Rachel shrugged "Nazi's on the East side, these ones here, mercenaries so Coil maybe. Merchants on the south and ABB on the west."

Jim grunted "This is getting ridiculous."

Taylor snarked "Getting?" Heidi giggled. Jim huffed and picked up the pace. If the girls could snark they could run faster. Lisa glared at the two while Alice cackled.

Sherrel just stretched her stride a little. She had started doing her designs on a treadmill to get in shape. Alice had said she needed to be in good shape for Jim. She hadn't lied either. Rachel was a teenager, was tough, and had lived a hard life. Besides she had reoriented onto Taylor now, well other than getting buttered after the showers. Shaved too. But that was just pampering, which a girl deserved right? Anyway, Taylor was a match, maybe more than a match for Rachel. The girl had legs all the way to her firm perky butt. What? Fuck she needed laid.

Reality Intrudes

Jim got out of the truck and walked in the parts store. He got his order and walked back out to the truck with the counterman and the air compressor on a hand truck. He was rebuilding a Mack B series he had found in a warehouse and just taken. As he got to the truck five big men with flattops stepped into view around the back of the truck. Jim chuckled "Go get five more guys fella's." The leader blinked. Jim shrugged "I got a 1911 with an eight round magazine and one in the pipe in my armpit. I'm going to kill eight or nine of you and then go to the knife." He swung his right hip forward so they could see the Mark II in the sheath on his belt. "Good enough fighter might get away to whine to Max."

The leader blinked "Who is Max?"

"Kaiser? Max Anders? Don't you know who you work for?" Jim shrugged as he and the counter man lifted the compressor in the truck and then shut the tailgate and the topper door. He nodded to the counter man who shrugged and walked back in the store.

Nazi number one made a mistake at that point and reached for Jim. Jim shot them all. Then he got out a phone. The 911 Operator had trouble making him out over the screaming. After he got off the call his brow beetled then he smiled. He changed magazines and shot the E88 crew again then called for the loader and the magnetic grips.

Reality Intrudes

Alice blinked "So let me get this straight. We have five Nazis. The lawyers have worked out times we have to turn them over to the BBPD. You have a training area set up for the first one and you want to use the first one for a talk through on a Gray Boy site training event. You are going to cut him up the way the one in the scrapyard is cut up and then we can do a walk through. Then we are going to use the rest of them for walk through and full speed. After you cut them up of course. The last two we are going to let the E88 know where and when so we have some OPFOR. Since you are going to be cutting up the Nazis you will be the umpire of the event."

Jim grinned and nodded. "Senior Trainer, but yes that's it." Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose "And you, Danny, and the lawyers got the BBPD, prosecutor, and public defender to agree to this along with the senior judge in the area."

Danny snorted "For several significant contributions."

Jim laughed "Politics for profit is just to damn convenient. Fucks up my retirement fund though."

Danny laughed "Oh and Panacea has to heal them of all injuries including the gunshots Jim gave them first."

Alice waved "I got some stuff I want to test. I think I got a healing cracker."

Sherrel came in and sat in Jims lap "If it's like the cramp cracker they will be ready for the Olympics the next day." Jim and Danny wrinkled their noses while Lisa nodded her head.

Reality Intrudes

Lisa watched as the perimeter was built and scouted. External security was set and then the teams watched outside while Panacea, Bakuda, Glory Girl and Grue simulated breaking the bubble, really did unfreeze the youngest of the casualties and Panacea healed him seconds after Jim cut him up in a very specific way.

Bakuda tossed a healing cracker and the kid stopped moaning and poked at where the bullet had gone through his guts. There wasn't even a scar. The BBPD swept in and arrested him while he was still blinking. Jim talking everyone through the plan on the ear buds they were wearing. "Well that went well."

Jim shrugged "Anyone see anything that needs improvement?"

Squealer looked up from the laptop she was using to control her drones "I need a bigger screen and maybe a couple of folks to help monitor."

Glory Girl shrugged "It's a little boring?"

Taylor shook her head "Boring is good."

Alice chimed in "Some time on the range. We are going to use real bullets first then put the critical casualties in suspended animation until Panacea can fix them or we can set a cracker off on them before we turn them in for the money."

Carol Dallon sighed "Can't we just use the time stop rounds?"

Alice shook her head "Besides those costing a grand apiece, I don't have enough palladium to make them for us and fill the orders from the PRT. I want to fill those so they stop using real rounds."

Carol grunted "They only go to live rounds on A class or higher."

Alice shrugged "Hello, bomb tinker. I think I started as an A class. Besides, they pay sixteen hundred bucks a round."

Sherrel nodded "We need to get Leet. He could make us a thing to get palladium."

Taylor rolled her eyes "Which you and Alice would have to keep from blowing up. If Alice can't make palladium his is going to be dangerous."

Rachel waved them all off "We need to get a squad of ABB and one of Merchants. Keep the power balanced. Even if we don't use them for practice. Which we should. Some of those Mercenaries too. We can set ambushes for practice."

Danny nodded "No way have we got this down in five iterations. Especially with two of them being live. Those are going to be big fights. The air superiority part needs work as does the envelopment. Some range time wouldn't hurt but all the targets were hit, even the movers, within five seconds."

Jim nodded "I agree. Let's get the information together and go scoop up some of the major players, they always have people around them."

Rachel shrugged "Or just use the idiots the fence catches."

Alice nodded "Oh the trucks to! They catch Teeth, Elite and all kinds of idiots. We can have them all shipped here for turn in."

Jim pinched the bridge of his nose "More of my retirement fund going to the lawyers and political contributions." Danny laughed.


	14. Chapter 14

Reality Intrudes

14

"Some people stress, some don't. Some just dig in, get used to it and keep on going. There was a bunch of studies. Guys wrote books, On Killing, and others. The Army changed from bullseye to human silhouettes and did a bunch of really simple minded propaganda at the same time they went to the all-volunteer military. Seems to have worked. What part of it? Who knows, to many variables all at the same time? Vehicles were always a different story, ground and air. You are killing the machine not the crew."

"As for PTSD. I heard there was a study trying to identify what it was stress hormone levels or some shit. Plus actual exposure to combat has doubled and tripled every war. Especially with reduced forces. Congressionally mandated manpower limits and like that. Bottom line, if you can hang you can hang. Most of the guys I knew that could hang though, they are the ones that proved retirement is a myth, oh they didn't kill themselves or anything, but none of them lasted five years unless they got back in something stressful. Heart attacks, cancer and shit. War is bad for you in so many ways. It's a little sad really." Everyone looked at Jim. He shrugged "Rogue Healer. No cancer and no heart trouble. OK, next is this merchant in this warehouse here. Standard envelopment. Take down team in on my or Taylors word. Taylor, you got enough minions?"

Taylor sighed "Are there ever enough? I'm good. I can't push much harder or I will be taking over our folks again."

Rachel grinned "Or the cops. That fucking line dance video is still getting a million hits a day." Taylor blushed. The others smiled. It was the cats and dogs in the lines with the cops and PRT troops that made it funny.

Of course the PRT was very not amused. They had a limited sense of humor really. All kinds of screaming about a Master nine, blah, blah, blah. If they only knew she was having to suppress or it just happened. Jim shook his head.

Sherrel sighed "It's just the normal idiots anyway. The merchant capes are captured or converted."

Heidi nodded "Or still stuck in the fence. Why do they keep trying? Especially that catapult thing that throws them into the overhead. What the fuck would even make someone try that? Even if they made it they would have been in a ballistic trajectory for hundreds of feet. Hitting the pavement would kill them."

"Meth" Sherrel supplied.

Jim grinned "Strategery."

Alice rolled her eyes "Quit playing hillbilly Bob, and that's tactics. We don't have a strategy."

"Make enough to retire?" Jim arched a brow.

Alice snorted "Sure, if you quit hiring and buying trucks and trailers."

Heidi chuckled "And get the legal bills under control."

Rachel shook her head "We don't have time for a lawyer rant. Besides you don't hate them. At least not the ones in those pencil skirts." Jim grumbled. Rachel smiled "Plus now you have to make enough to send Alice and Sherrel's kids to college and set them up in a business.

Jim looked at Sherrel who smiled but shook her head, then pouted, and gave the signal.

Lisa grinned "And you quit knocking up anyone who wants." After the others had run off laughing.

Jim sighed "That is so not my fault."

Alice laughed "Say no." Jim grumbled about the unfairness of it all and went looking for Danny.

Reality Intrudes

Jim looked at the reports and sighed "We have to run in convoys now. A high lifter with magnetic clamp on a flatbed, and a truck to transport the ones we catch. We run that with a couple gun trucks behind the convoy. They can stop and pick up the time outed or suspended idiots."

Sherrel sat up on his lap, then got up and changed to reverse cowboy so she could work on the computer. "Yeah. The road trains take too long to get up to speed and burn too much fuel doing it. The super sleepers converted to work space for the gunners and crew are working out though. So is moving fuel in the tanks. I told you two one hundred fifty gallon saddles and ten hours between depots was the way to go. We only burn fifty or sixty gallons per train but they move three hundred gallons. We can even sell some on to other truckers at a profit. And we don't have to run tanker trailers in the trains. Those are prime hijacking targets. I can't believe remote turrets first came into use in the Second World War and then it took until the ninety's for CNC machines to become widespread. It is really a baby step from turrets to machine control."

Jim thought about nodding for a fleeting second but his attention was drawn to the flashes of rounded sides of perfect breast around the well-muscled back and ribcage. He needed to get Panacea something really nice. One of the girls from the picking crew maybe. She liked watching that tall Chinese girl with the wide hips. Kate. Or that Japanese girl Anne.

Reality Intrudes

Doctor Mother shrugged "Buy them. Put them in storage and buy enough time stop and restorer to first unfreeze them for fights with the enemy and then to refreeze them. There are even earths that are useless to humans we can store them on."

The Accountant nodded "It simplifies logistics really. Then we can round them up after Endbringer fights and freeze them again for practice. We even save money on food and housing. We have already time stopped the most useful of the subjects who had no other use. We should try it on Ash Beast."

Alexandria pinched the bridge of her nose "Fine." She stood up and left. Contessa smiled like the cat who got the Canary. Doctor Mother looked at her "And if he isn't a null?"

Contessa huffed "She won't get relaxed and save me five thousand steps. The path goes on either way."

Doctor Mother shook her head "And if she kills him?"

Contessa sighed "Hebert, and we don't save so many." She shrugged eloquently.

Doctor Mother frowned "We could make sure he is one."

The Accountant frowned "Probably."

Contessa shrugged, "It might not matter, he has skills after all." The discussion waned.

Reality Intrudes

Legend looked at Alexandria and snorted. Eidolon frowned but not at the snort. Rebecca, Alexandria, rolled her eyes "It's not out of the realm of possibility Paul."

Paul, Legend nodded, then laughed "Sorry, sorry. Do you even know how? I mean sure guys look at you all the time, you have all the attributes the media has conditioned modern society to appreciate, and they are very nicely packaged, spectacularly so even, but Paladin doesn't impress me as someone who particularly cares about that. He shot Shatterbird then crushed her head with a hammer to disable her gemma. He took three world class beauties from Heartbreaker and never touched nor, apparently, even talked to them. He burned Bonesaw to death using a thousand gallons of propane."

David, Eidolon, nodded "Maybe he has yellow fever. Bakuda is Japanese. Or likes them butch, Hellhound is a very muscular girl."

Rebecca glared "Squealer?"

Paul nodded "You might be onto something David. She is very muscular too, at least now. Much more proportional."

Rebecca closed her eyes and counted to ten "First I am going to talk to him. Just talk. Both the PRT and Protectorate have contracts and contacts with him. Second, I am going to strangle Contessa. Last, I am sure I know how to handle a man."

David scratched his chin and nodded "But this is Paladin. And his whole organization really. Bakuda is never far from him. Our agents say Hellhound and her girlfriend are never far from her. The girlfriend has been gaining more and more of a reputation. She is some kind of trump or master apparently, maybe both. We need to be careful here. Especially if they pull off breaking that Gray Boy site. Kennedy's niece is in there and he is politics in America."

Paul nodded "Maybe we should get the meeting before he does that?"

Reality Intrudes

Taylor looked at Rachel "No new ones."

Rachel grunted and shrugged "Ran out of idiots. There haven't been any in the fence at the terminal in a couple days either."

Lisa looked over from her spot on the bench in the locker room. "No capes, so Kaiser, Othala, Victor, Kreig and Purity for the Empire and Lung for the ABB are still out there."

Heidi snorted "Purity isn't Empire and the others are rebuilding. They haven't gone away. Would you go up against Paladin Security, New Wave and the BBPD? The Teeth will hit us in Boston. Accord if we are lucky. Idiots are still trying the convoys."

Lisa nodded "They are having trouble moving forces as the idiots keep trying to hit the trucks on the way to here. Then they have to gather up more forces and start again. Plus the independent hunters hit their transport as well. Easy picking of twenty or thirty grand. To tempting a target I guess."

Alice flopped down and put a hand on her barely there baby bump "Idiots. Where is Jim? I need oiled."

Taylor blushed and Rachel chuckled "Sherrel."

Alice rolled her eyes "Gaijin, so horny. Lisa oil me."

Lisa rolled her eyes "Not demanding or anything."

"Pregnant!" Alice barked. Lisa scowled and picked up the tub of coconut oil from the pot of water on the warmer. Then she poked her tongue out at Alice as she smeared a big dollop across her shoulders. Alice waved her off "Hush, I'll do you."

Reality Intrudes

"Iridium?" Danny asked.

Jim looked at Danny and sighed "Do I look like I know? Alice uses it for something. Taylor remembered that it is present in the boundary layer of the KT extinction event and they were off. Alice wants it for something."

Danny sighed "You would think they would be doing teenage things. Not building some contraption to journey to the center of the earth."

Jim shrugged "At least it's automated. They won't be riding in it like some kind of Jules Verne story, and I think this layer is not that deep? Shallow enough I told them to be aware of old septic tanks and pits, buried fuel storage and that too. That set them looking for what might be in those." He waved a letter "Which got us these notices from the archeologist."

Danny nodded "When are we going to Boston?"

Jim chuckled "Monday, thank god."

"Not changing the subject but Kate said something about you and Mei?" Danny blushed and stuttered. Jim grinned.


	15. Chapter 15

Reality Intrudes

15

Thomas Calvert got in his mass-produced luxury car, the one that was totally in keeping with his station as the CEO of a fortune five hundred company "Drive. Montreal." The driver's eyes widened slightly but he was paid well so checked his mirrors and pulled into traffic.

Thomas, in the back seat, opened the bar and poured himself a drink. He was all out of doubles so would need to source some more before he came back to Brockton Bay. If he went back.

Boston was a shambles. Accord's organization was gutted, Accord himself frozen in time in front of his own building. The Teeth, more like the full upper and lower denture, or maybe the toothless hag that needed them if she ever got unfrozen. The Butcher had lost a lot of dignity being frozen mid teleport like that. Who knew what it did to her mentally. Really how would you tell though? The woman was mad to start with. It was interesting in a way that really didn't fit any school. Escher and Dali's love child perhaps.

It might be easier and more productive to move his operation to Boston. The low level parahuman gangs were in no better shape than the Teeth. Their non-powered members shot, wounded to be sure, still shot, then put in suspended animation and now in custody though. There had been very few fatalities among the regular criminals and none among civilians. Not so much among parahuman organizations or his mercinaries. Who knew about Paladin's organization? Can you injure a ghost? Multiple ghost now? He had given it a try on Hellhound with a well planned and executed ambush of her and her dogs and spent four hours jumping from time line to time line as he died. He had survived by renting a Hyundai at Budget and fleeing to Pawtucket! Fucking bugs everywhere! Dogs, cats, rats, homeless people, birds, squirrels for gods sake! And last but not least a farmer chasing him on a tractor with a sickle bar mower leading a herd of cows. The girl was a master but she must have second triggered!

Blasto was still at large, but he was Blasto. The non-parahuman criminals of Boston cooling their heels after being taken down and turned in for their rewards. And most important of all, the Paladin wasn't in Boston. He and his organization had gone back to Brockton Bay after proving they could break a Gray Boy site on the scrapyard site, and then breaking the one the Kennedy cousin was in.

Boston was both close and nearly adrift, well the criminal underworld was adrift. Brockton Bay had no criminal underworld to speak of anymore. Not one that produced the necessary resources to run a large organization anyway. Paladin had made it his personal hunting preserve and training ground. Like he himself had planned to do.

Paladin. Nearly ten years of working alone and suddenly he gets a parahuman partner, a tinker, and the world falls in. Really the tinker only made him less lethal. Thomas looked at the tablet in his lap, the documentation of all of the parts of Paladin security were public access and the trail was clearly visible. The man had his own army. An army made up of retired or former military, police, and PRT.

He looked at the document on the screen, and now he had his own high security transport network in Jones trucking and haulage and he had done it right under everyone's nose. He wasn't a parahuman so he wasn't important, just an eccentric who hunted high bounties with kill orders and got lucky. He was lucky enough to stay alive as well.

The one report on him outside of him turning in some bounty was the report from the PRT on the bio tinker who had caught him and experimented on him. A bio tinker who had subsequently disappeared. Probably in the company of a woman who wore a fedora. He had refused to press charges and had gone his way, that had been seven years ago.

He was ruthless as well. The pictures of Bonesaw in the boxer pose were heart wrenching if you didn't know what the little beast had done. As soon as Jack Slash had turned the girl, Riley's life was over. Paladin had finally given her rest.

He was alone for years in his truck. Anti-social disorder of some kind, or Asperger's perhaps.

Paladin was wildly more effective than the PRT and Protectorate. When he or his organization was chasing you they caught you and up until eight months ago they killed you. Well Paladin did. There was no escaping custody with him. Even now unless someone paid millions of dollars there was no escaping. You died or ended up as statuary. Humiliating.

Thomas topped up his drink and leaned back into the leather. In the other timeline Thomas in his Coil costume continued to flee the burning wreckage of the car he had stolen, on foot after swimming ashore. Crashing through the bridge railing and landing on the barge had saved him. Well, the airbags had. The fire on the oil barge was a problem though. He hadn't waited around and as soon as he freed himself had run and leapt over the side. The fire seemed to have killed the bugs though.

Reality Intrudes

Alexandria stood with her hands on her hips and her foot tapping. Jim shrugged "It got a little crazy. Sorry?"

Alice laughed "At least you got your eye fixed."

Alexandria snapped "By a bio tinker who was not in control!"

Jim nodded wryly "Powers make you people crazy. She has been suppressing most of hers ever since she had it. Healing is the least of what she can do. Bonesaw had to cut on people. Amy can do it just by touching you. Or could. You proved she can do it at range, blaster you called it. She apologized as soon as your glass eye popped out. I'd be grateful." He grinned at her.

Alexandria glared "Like you are grateful to the tinker who made you immortal?"

Jim laughed "Well, Amy can probably fix that for me."

Alice smacked him in the chest "Not until I am finished with you Gaijin. You have children to support."

Jim groaned "There goes my retirement fund. Hey wait a minute, are you having twins?"

Alexandria looked at Alice "And we need to talk about your bombs." Alice rolled her eyes and mouthed the words Alexandria had said before turning on her heel and walking off. Alexandria ground her teeth. It was impressive.

Jim chuckled "She doesn't like when you call them bombs. Just because they need a exothermic event to start them doesn't mean they are all lethal or do collateral damage. She has the health grenades after all."

"Which we want to order." Alexandria added.

"See, not all bad." Jim smiled. Alexandria glared at him some more "That would be more effective without the visor." Alexandria screamed a little with her lips closed. Jim lifted his hands palm out.

Rachel looked at Taylor "Don't bite your nails. It will be fine. He'll be banging her later."

"What? Really? You think so?" Taylor pulled her hand away from her mouth and frowned.

Rachel nodded "After Mouse Protector gets done with him. Maybe. Dominance thing with Alexandria. She is Alpha too. She hangs out enough she will decide he is a good sire."

"Mouse Protector?"

Rachel chuckled "Yes your favorite Saturday morning cartoon person is a female and of age."

Taylor sighed "Fucking hot too. Did you see her all warmed up after beating those Teeth down? My childhood was so short."

"And you killing a hundred Coils didn't make it any longer."

"That fucker. I am going to kill both of him at once sooner or later."

Rachel hugged her "It was an ambush Babe. He went after the heavy hitter. The dogs and I are fine."

"Fucker. He still dies." Rachel rolled her eyes and led Taylor away.

Lisa looked at Danny "So!"

Danny narrowed his eyes "We so need to get you laid."

"Hey! You're supposed to be some kind of parental figure or something! You aren't supposed to be contributing to the madness around here! Who is going to be the sane one?"

Danny nodded "I'll talk to Jim."

"Oh! Well that could...wait a minute!"

Danny doubled over laughing and Lisa blushed like a tomato "I'll get you for that Union Man! Now fess up, why aren't you upset?"

"About Taylor's killtacular? Well that fuck Coil tried on her girlfriend, he missed, and she gets her temper from her mother and I. You know Annette was an enforcer for Lustrum right? That isn't exactly the job of a wilting flower. Back in the day I was a longshoreman. I'm actually kind of happy. I think it proves she really loves Rachel. Of course Rachel and the dogs supporting her and wiping out all those mercenaries kind of proves the same thing about her. She loves my little girl. Plus they can take care of themselves obviously. Jim only had to help them the once and then they were off and running." Danny smiled.

Lisa nodded "Made a great distraction for the police, Protectorate, and PRT. A running battle through all of greater Boston inside the I95 ring from Beverly to Quincy. I don't think she will be able to get in the wards after that though, and the lawyers are going to have work for years with her racking up a body count in the triple digits."

Danny nodded and frowned "All self defense or justifiable from the body and gun cameras though. Besides, a third of them are Coils, does that even count? Or is that 1 A through ZZZ So Thy tells me anyway, the justifiable part. Plus she made enough bounty money she can afford the lawyers even if she wasn't covered as part of Paladin Security."

Lisa grinned "Pillow talk?"

"Yep, you need laid."

"Ack!" Lisa fled.

Mie looked at Danny "It was pillow talk."

Danny sighed "She would have made a yellow fever comment next. Then she would be on about the youth guard and child services."

Mie smiled "You are a sensible white devril. Don't cut her off next time, I like people thinking I am a young teen. I work hard on this unblemished skin." Danny sighed and closed his eyes.

Reality Intrudes

Rebecca Costa Brown, sort of? The body double and loyal assistant, with the Cauldron supplied minor stranger power, watched the reports and smiled. Maybe the Boss Lady getting laid would chill her out a little. She was a great Boss and Rebecca was a true believer but Alexandria could be a little intense.

Meanwhile she had to sort this mess out. The politicians were ecstatic, thank god, all lining up to get Paladin to come do their Gray Boy areas and Senator Kennedy wouldn't hear a bad word about Paladin, and had his PR people running, making the world think Paladin farted rainbows and pissed premium whiskey.

Which looking at the preliminary data he might. Boston's criminal problem wasn't. Not right now anyway. Brockton Bay was at the lowest ebb for the criminal element since before Scion.

If Paladin did the other Gray Boy areas the same way they might actually get the Parahuman criminal element under control, finally.

Getting someone else to take another shot at Hellhound might be hard to arrange though. Hecate was no joke when her Hellhound was threatened. There was no need at all for it to be a member of the PRT or Protectorate taking the shot. They didn't want Hecate tracing that back to them. At all, ever. Coil was still running.

Now the Youth Guard had someone other than the Protectorate to focus on as well. Paladin already had top flite psychologist and psychiatrist on staff though. Battlefield Stress Control. Retired Army guys and their connections. The PRT was getting there but the service was less than thirty years old, not more than two hundred years old like the Army.

Now, on to important things, like getting her bet in the pool with the Accountant. Oh and getting that healer to fix this eye since Alexandria had had hers fixed. Oh and sending Panacea something nice. Now what could a manic biotinker want? Bah she was still a girl. Shoes! Oh, or a bag! Not Birkin or Hermes but certainly Coach.


	16. Chapter 16

Reality Intrudes

16

"So they give you the solo hero and independent death stats and lay the unwritten rules on you, or vice versa, usually in the same breath. Then they expect you not to point out the irony." Rachel shrugged.

Taylor snorted "Is this your version of counseling? And don't take this the wrong way but the smart grenades are amazing."

Rachel laughed "They do make things clearer. Plus now Alice has made them quiet. Still have to be under like a carport. Lots of overpressure in the area of effect. Nosebleeds sometimes. No. You don't need counseling. No question we smoked a bunch of those assholes but you don't have the shakes and aren't having nightmares and shit. This is my version of warning you. The Protectorate is going to give you their pitch. When you say no, pretty sure you will, they will call you a vigilante at the least."

Taylor lifted herself on her elbows "Registered hunter Babe."

"Like that will stop that bunch of douches." Taylor shot Rachel a wrinkled nose.

Lisa walked up and flopped down on the blanket they had laid on the sand "Since you two aren't banging. They aren't smart grenades they are, well, my power can't even figure it out. They are amazing, or the results are. Nearly as amazing as Panpan's tune ups. We are fucking hot ladies."

Taylor sighed "A little young yet. We are though." She looked down at her bikini top and jiggled. "Still..."

Lisa snorted "If you say so. Hey don't go changing my perky B view. So, the big bad small killer team of Paladin Security having a day at the beach. Freaking out the tourist? Or just teasing the boys?"

Taylor looked around "One of the small killer teams, there are others. How would they know who we are? And eww, no. Not on purpose anyway. There are some nice ones but they seem pretty taken already."

Lisa laughed "It's always the way. Yeah, OK, Jim and Alice have a higher tally than you and there are a few more teams scattered around. Because Rachel only wears her mask when she has a zit, you are hanging around her and fit the description of the Predator. Much better than 'Hecate' what could the PRT have been thinking with that? All kinds of bad connotations with Hellhound too. Especially as you two are partners not in some dom/sub thing. None of us, well, all of us are, or were, too casual about mask. Most cape geeks aren't as stupid as the PRT. Plus, you know, cape geeks only loosely fit the unwritten rules. Plus, the Predator, so it's dangerous and shit, gives the geeks stiffies."

Taylor rolled her eyes "As said Predator eats another cream cheese and pineapple sandwich."

Rachel took one from the cooler as well. Lisa gave the puppy face holding out a hand, Rachel handed her the sandwich and got out another. "This is so Sixties."

Taylor grinned and swallowed "Good though."

Lisa nodded "So weird."

Amy walked up with a blanket and a cooler "Not sixties with these ity bity bikini's. My ass keeps eating my bottoms. Last time I let Vicky talk me into one of these. Pimento cheese, which is, if we are talking weirdly good processed foods that are going straight to our asses, the absolute best."

Glory Girl appeared in an Ironman landing and snorted "Not so much. Two a days when we aren't on mission. Gimme some processed fat Ames. And that suit looks great on you. I watched five guys walk into or off of shit."

Amy nodded "With chemicals, don't forget those."

"Carol still ragging about it?" Lisa asked.

Vicky snorted "Those who don't two a day don't make the rules. But, yes. 'Eating crap and laying around naked!'"

Taylor shrugged "She took herself off the roster. Apparently there is big lawyering to be done."

"We shouldn't be bitches. I actually saw some of what she is doing. There is a lot of work that goes into set up on the sites after Boston and most of it is in for, or requires, legal review. Not trying to say anything but when everyone on the team ended up with a body count…At least having suspended them to stop them from dying." Amy left it hanging.

Rachel nodded "Plus you know, all of Paladins normal shit and fighting off terrified or greedy politicians from forty nine states and the fed in court. Jim is making lawyers rich. Good thing we diversified."

Crystal who had walked up shook her head "It was the Teeth, Accords people and the Elite. They had bounties on them for Christ sake. You don't see the politicians in Boston or Massachusetts making a fuss. Well, much of one. Some law and order noises and no charges filed."

Eric Pelham, Shielder, laughed as he dropped off his back pack "Amy shooting that bitch. She looked so surprised."

Amy huffed "Teleport into my aid station with a gun drawn and see what I do to you Eric. That still shouldn't have killed her. If her heart wasn't in the wrong place it wouldn't have."

"Dextrocardia situs inversus, pretty high odds, then her being a cape. Nearly destiny." Vicky nodded. Then glared at everyone staring at her "If I hear one 'blond' crack!"

Rachel brought the conversation back to the original topic as Eric pulled out a football and ran off to his friends "So, they are bound to lay the recruitment speech on you at some point."

Taylor nodded "Still not joining. All those regulations, the Youth Guard? No thanks."

Crystal smiled "We will see when Alexandria makes the pitch."

Taylor snorted "She has to figure out whether she wants Jim or dad first."

Rachel laughed "And survive Alice and Mei and their friends."

"More lawyering for Carol." Amy nodded.

Heidi grounded her lounge chair "Tired of that. Who are we siccing Alice on to recruit next?"

Lisa grinned "Narwhal."

The other girls blinked and then broke up laughing.

Reality Intrudes

"Nope, Mouse Protector." Alice looked up from the tablet relaying the feed from the snitch.

Sherrel looked over from her bench "Really? Hmmm. Could be cool and maybe needs to be soon. I got a feeling."

Alice frowned "You couldn't have even missed yet." Sherrel shrugged.

Reality Intrudes

"I gotta say you are pretty sanguine about the whole thing." Jim arched a brow.

Danny shrugged and kept walking down the loading dock "World war three happened in Boston. We got some people banged up on our side but didn't lose any. Probably thanks to Panacea and Bakuda, but still. Taylor, ah, well, let her temper out to play. But it was on the Teeth or other villains. Poor kid, she gets it from her mother and I. Plus they scuffed Rachel up pretty bad, her dogs too. That was never going to be a good idea, even if they were just friends. Roughing up her first girlfriend? Horrible idea. Even if she wasn't a parahuman she would have been shooting people or clubbing them."

"I'll keep talking to her about getting her temper under control but crap, she is homeschooling to keep from killing Emma Barnes, Madison Clements, and Sophia Hess. That case is still working its way through the courts and the alternative is the school keeping them apart. We saw how well that worked. Those little bitches and their clique won't give in and Taylor and the people that started hanging out with her won't either. There is a rumble in that piece of shit school every day between Taylor's group and Emma's clique even without Taylor there. You would think Emma's pack of bitches would get tired of getting their asses beat."

"Blackwell got fired and they are bringing in a principle that specializes in cleaning up inner city schools. We'll see if that works."

"From the lack of understanding you would think all these people went to school in Hollywood or some foreign country. Not some inner city school where two wrong words can get you killed. I know that isn't true in Blackwell's case. She was a hanger on in the popular girl crowd in Winslow when it was good. She did her four years in the land of the flies. She should have known better."

Jim nodded "The Army only takes the ones that want to be there now, and still discipline is a constant thing. Taylors group, all that training and studying those kids do after they get out of school. Some good prospects for the company in those kids."

Danny laughed "So they just joined a different gang. Or Taylor made her own by accident. Rachel is up to the discipline problem I think. If not Brutus is." Jim shrugged and gave him a grin.

Reality Intrudes

Mouse Protector looked at Miss Militia "So I shouldn't go check them out?"

Hannah rolled her eyes "Not by just walking up to his house or business. Unless of course you to be frozen in time Ellen."

"Might be a nice vacation?" Ellen grinned.

Hannah groaned "I'll get you his contact information. You are going to be bored here. Not much left of the villains right now. We are watching for who tries to move in, but the Teeth, Accord and the Elite just took a significant loss in Boston."

Ellen nodded "But they don't just work here. There are hundreds of Gray Boy sites. That little bastard was with the Nine for years. Every one of those is going to be a fight. Probably not as bad as Boston, now that that happened, but still, someone will be stupid." Hannah nodded and sighed.

Reality Intrudes

Emily Piggot looked over the crime stats and patrol reports. "The only thing saving this Directorate is it is where Paladin is based and we have détente with him."

Neil Rankin, Chief of Operations for the PRT nodded "An accurate assessment Director. Your Directorate is going to get reinforced but the troops will mostly be mobile forces to keep up with Paladin and his operations. We would like to avoid another Jefferies Point Massacre."

"With Brockton Bay able to be policed by the Local Law Enforcement agencies with occasional assistance from East North East we are shifting you to working with Paladin Security and Paladin. The Protectorate ENE will be shifting with you. Legend is briefing Armsmaster."

"Boston will take some time to recover but most if not all of the A class threats in the area have been suppressed. We have developed a plan, based primarily on your Directorates activities over the last eight months that should see them getting on top of their area of operations in the same time frame."

Emily nodded "With joint training and advice from ENE."

Neil smiled and shrugged "You are suddenly the experts Emily."

"If you call eight months of madness sudden." Emily scowled. "Meanwhile Paladin is going to be running all over the country doing whatever. And I have to chase him."

"Perhaps try to get a liaison in his operations and plans organization? Mouse Protector is in the area and is an affiliate."

Emily froze for a moment then groaned "Her clock has gone off." She sighed as Neil looked sympathetic "Damn."

"On top of that I have Alexandria floating in and out of the area." Neil arched a brow. Emily groaned "Shoot me now. I may need to retire."

Neil nodded "Or avail yourself of Panacea before she goes off the deep end and you end up the female version of Paladin." Emily blanched.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: OK first edit done up to Chapter 16. Mostly happy to glad but some clarification. Feel free to binge it. I just did.

Reality Intrudes

17

Taylor huffed and sighed. Rachel arched a brow "OK. I'm like the guy in this relationship and lack intuition, empathy, or what the fuck ever, but even I can tell something is bothering you."

Taylor snorted "You are definitely not a guy. For one thing you don't believe vaginas are magical and everyone with one is all sweetness and light and concern for the world. Whatever other bullshit American media has come up with today."

Rachel snorted and rolled over onto Taylor on the bed "Nope, still a boy. I think about sex five times a minute or whatever it is."

Taylor laughed, then sighed. "It's not what I thought it would be at all." Rachel lifted her head and looked at Taylor, a bit hurt actually. Taylor smiled and moved an arm to better wrap around Rachel "Not that. That is pretty great. This too. The hero thing I mean. It's so, so-"

"Work like? Planning, training 'achieve a complete overmatch or defend'. A business?" Rachel asked with a small smile.

Taylor nodded "Yeah. Jim I get, kind of, him and his retirement plan. It is a business to him. Even more now with Alice having decided the world needs filled with little Jims. But the Protectorate? They don't have to make a profit. They aren't self-funding."

"Mouse Protector. I have no idea what Alice is thinking. While we are talking about plans, what the hell are we doing letting the pickers trade Dad around? Mei needs to stop sharing and lock him down. I hadn't actually thought of that self-funding thing. Jim's rant about taxes brought this on?" Rachel asked.

Taylor snorted and wriggled until she was mostly on top "Dad has oats, they have fertile fields."

"We are going to have little bastard brothers and sisters." Rachel slipped in.

Taylor glared then continued "Maybe the tax rant. It got me looking. The NEPEA laws were years ago and Jims lawyers have capitalized on the work done by the Elite's lawyers so those laws are pretty ineffectual. Oh sure if you don't have the lawyers they might hold you up but not if you are willing to do the reading. The Protectorate and PRT are static, not appealing to the parahuman in the street. The last new initiative they had was the wards. Even if they are, or their intent is to harness parahumans for the benefit of the government, they could do much better than they do."

Rachel lifted her head from where she had been attempting to distract Taylor "They are following the spirit of the law, while commercial entities are following the letter and arguing about the meaning of every one and the words they form. At every level, city, county, state and federal. Nothing new and we have been over this."

Taylor sighed "Lisa and I talked."

Lisa opened the door and slid into the bed "Hey, don't just toss that out there like that! I don't want my ass bit off."

Rachel grunted "The world ending, or at least society as we know it. Does it really matter? We can find a place we can defend and rebuild the thing. Maybe make it better. Alice is pretty sure she can time stop an Endbringer. As for ass biting that's for being a smug twat, if Taylor wants to bang you I would probably help." Taylor collapsed laughing as Lisa gaped. They didn't often surprise Lisa. Rachel was the best one for it though. She was a little different, quicker, more socialized, every time Alice put her in her containment room and set off another one of her devices aimed at improving people.

Taylor as well. She hadn't just gotten boobs from Alice. Though the boobs were pretty fucking choice if she did say so herself. And the cramp crackers kept them from hurting.

If it all went sideways, as Jim said, she and Rachel could get a web cam and make a fortune before the end of the world. Lisa, too. Hmm maybe they should look into that. Fuck you had to be eighteen for that shit. No way Rachel would solo. Lisa might though. Her power didn't pick out stuff over video if she was just sending. One of the older pickers could do the chat, or maybe they could build a chatbot. Aaargh! Now she was thinking of her retirement fund!

Lisa looked at Taylor, and fell off the bed laughing. Rachel sighed "What now?"

Reality Intrudes

Alice looked at Taylor, then Lisa, and sighed "you have infected Taylor with your retirement bullshit."

Jim nodded "Girl should think of the future."

Alice glared at him "I am so going to make you stop while you are coming!"

"What the fuck! It's the truth!" Jim burst out.

Sherrel scooted in on his other side in the round sun lounge "Sure but she has years yet. She is too serious anyway. Mouse Protector will loosen her up." Jim let his head down then raised it and dropped it again. Sherrel snorted "You know you want that Gaigen. Those firm round boobies."

Alice smirked and got in on the act "And that tight round ass."

The others in the yard looked over as Jim somehow tickled them both into submission. Mei turned Danny's head that way "Pay attention. The master is teaching."

Danny stood up with her under one arm and headed for the house. Mei gave a broad wink and a thumbs up with both hands until he spanked her one time. Lacey shook her head "Its Sodom and Gomorrah." Kurt looked at her and broke up laughing.

Reality Intrudes

"Well where did you get?" Emma looked at Sophia.

"Gary, working the containment zone."

Emma nodded "Fits your skill set. Chicago. Dad is done here. We might as well try there. I will talk to him."

Sophia looked at Emma not knowing how she felt about that. "Madison left already."

Emma nodded "Boarding school. Her parents have to move a lot anyway. We will keep in touch. It's in New York. Duchess County somewhere."

Reality Intrudes

Thomas looked out the window of his apartment in Montreal. He ground his teeth. This was accords fault. It had to be. He had relied on the other thinker and it had blown up in his face. Accord, if his lawyers got him off would be sitting in the catbird seat however. And that would indemnify him through double jeopardy to a vast array of his crimes.

An elegant or catastrophic failure that benefitted Accord most of all. A hallmark of all of his plans. Thomas nodded. There was no way some hick who had gotten lucky could have beaten him! He was the greatest thinker of all time. He could manipulate time even!

Reality Intrudes

"It's not a race Paul." Alexandria said.

"It is a bit. The Simurgh, or one of the Endbringers is overdue. The thinkers are more sure everyday she will attack soon. Well, some of them."

David snorted "And the others think purple taste green this week."

Alexandria nodded "And if they participate it will put them under our authority for the duration of the truce. With as many young heroes as he has they will participate."

Paul sighed "Notwithstanding a tinker that will want to test her mettle against an Endbringer."

David shrugged. "Two tinkers, three really."

Reality Intrudes

Kaiser screamed and threw the cut crystal tumbler at the window of his office that looked north. He could see the sun glinting off his still frozen blades.

Outside the office Fenja looked at Menja and snorted. One blade tinman did hardly anyone any good. If the pay wasn't so good they would have left already.

Reality intrudes

Purity picked up the phone and dialed the number she had been given, given hell, paid a pretty penny of Lungs money for.


	18. Chapter 18

Reality Intrudes

18

"Fuck Gaijin! Me so horny!" Alice grinned down at Jim where she was mounted astride.

Jim groaned then grinned "You're a crazy bitch, but you fuck so good I'm on top of it."

Sherrel rolled around the bed laughing. Alice pouting just made it worse. Jim lifting her and bouncing her on his hips was, hey that looked like fun! Holy shit he machine gunned her. Better help a sister out "Speaking of video, have you heard Taylor's plan to get them on a chat site to make money." She smiled as Jim sighed and let Alice, the panting Alice, back down to the bed. Alice grinned and took up a rhythm.

"Everybody has heard. That last discussion about it got pretty loud. I don't think they will actually do it. Mei put her foot down pretty hard and Danny isn't that laid back. That doesn't mean the picker girls aren't going to steal some old costumes and execute the plan." Jim frowned "Not sure how I feel about Paladin or Jones having a web site like that."

Alice, her rhythm established, nodded "Spin it out into a different business unit. The internet is for porn and it's a ninety billion dollar growth industry, and Jones has an in with all those truckers. They need something to watch in those sleepers. We can be a huge player in a niche market and it's not like we aren't running the girls who we took from the Empire and Lung who wanted to stay in the business. I'll get the Dragon Lady on it."

Sherrel shook her head "Sweetest old little Asian lady, who would think she ran that?"

"Shows what you know Gaijin. Hey Ohio is waking up. About time."

Janice sat up and looked around blearily "Hey! It's still my turn!"

"You were on a break." Jim blinked at Alice's comment and closed his eyes. He resisted the urge to put in his ear protection. Bakuda and Mouse Protector got loud.

He oofed when Janice somersaulted onto him and rumped Alice toward his feet then slid back up and got firmly mounted with a "Huzzah!" One hand pointing to the ceiling and the other fisted on her hip.

Alice fell over laughing. Jim had to chuckle. Sherrel snuggled her head in beside his, chuckling as well.

Later, after some pretty athletic activity, Janice looked around the bedroom and groaned "This place is destroyed. We will be hours cleaning up."

Sherrel raised her head and shrugged "Staff, full employment is our goal."

"Plus it gives them something to gossip about. Shower, smelly gaijins smell like wet chickens."

Janice gaped at Alice "Roots, a Roots reference? I'm telling Grue!"

Jim helped them up and toward the master bath "How the hell do you know every parahuman in the organization?"

Janice smirked "Fucking or fighting, information is key."

Sherrel arched a brow "Alexandria?"

Janice sighed, "She doesn't know, how am I supposed to figure it out? Mei was lining up on her though."

Alice waved her off "That's Mei obscuring her attempts to get information on Predator."

Janice nodded "Wet Dog thinks she is the heir apparent to Paladin."

Jim snorted "All the creatures and humans if she isn't paying attention. Predator does what she wants. Not sure I could take her now. She gets some experience and I wouldn't want to try. Plus she has Amy modifying those bugs and that breeding program. We are going to have to spin her out into her own company."

"Set one up to take over her lines of product and activities you mean. Some of its tinker, some thinker, some just straight business application. Those kids are clever and somebody is getting them great synergies." Sherrel added.

"It's all those bullied geeks in Predators gang." Alice tossed in. "Hey don't go far, you butter!"

"Like I ever don't."

"The best part of waking up is coco butter in your mmph!" Sherrel eyed Janice over the hand she had on her mouth. She pulled her hand away and Janice barked out "Butt!" The other two women groaned. Jim was bent over at the waist howling with laughter, face half covered in shaving cream. Sherrel and Alice glared at him while Janice grinned and curtsied in the giant glass walled shower enclosure.

Reality Intrudes

Hanna leaned in close and sniffed of Janice "Coco butter?"

Janice nodded, the mouse ears on her new Predator supplied, limpet material shell, silk lined, helmet, dipping and oscillating. Armsmaster was staring at them. "Part of the morning routine at Casa de Paladin. The fortress? Constantinople? Any who, over at the house, shower, then Paladin butters us. It's a pretty great start to the day. Breakfast makes it even better between Paladin and his sous chef Predator."

"I'm going to have to pick up my exercise or I am going to get fat. I have to anyway really. Need more stamina."

Miss Militia gaped at her and she laughed "Not for that, or not for just that. Those training exercises are like the freaking X-men's danger room. Paintballs hurt like a bitch too. Unless you are Alexandria. Then they just dump a jillion gallons of water on you."

"I wouldn't have thought she was that kinky, I mean being into water based S&M."

"I'm not." Mouse protector jumped and glared at Miss Militia who had to have seen Alexandria coming up behind her. She got crinkled eyes back. "They figured out one of the only weaknesses to my powers before I even got there."

Mouse Protector nodded "Hunters, they have running threat assessments continuously in case you get a bounty. They do them on everyone all the time. Normal, Parahuman, animals, wild and in the zoo's." She paused "Better than Wet Dogs. From the shooters perspective, if you know what I mean. Less than Lethal all the way to lethal."

Alexandria arched a brow "And what do they do with these?"

Mouse Protector nodded "I was curious too. They have them on hard copy and stored. Now in a time frozen room. They get updated once a week and anyone who got a bounty in the meantime gets pulled from the files. They sell them to hunters or law enforcement. Hunters who aren't in Paladins employ. Paladin employees get weekly updates."

Armsmaster walked up to the group "Your ears are emitting?"

"Armsy! What a thing to say. Was that a compliment? Are you trying to get a date? I'm with Paladin now, you missed your chance. A girl can't wait forever!"

Armsmaster glared. Mouse protector smiled "I live with a bunch of tinkers and geniuses now Armsy. Some kind of radar thing. Paints the local area out to about a mile on my HUD. Gives me a wire frame type image. If I toggle down it gives me a CG view but that is limited to a quarter mile."

Alexandria nodded "That is why you were having trouble this morning."

Mouse Protector nodded "Getting used to new equipment. I'll do better tonight."

Miss Militia blinked "Still two a day? Where are you setting up for?"

Emily Piggot walked in and everyone moved to seats. Emily asked "We might as well start there, and as the new liaison to Paladin is here?"

Mouse Protector smiled "Maine. I'll send the target list. Starting Monday of next week then going north to south and east to west from site to site. The training is already programmed and I was told that if you want to feed your PRT teams in Paladin will be happy to add them to the training."

Assault laughed, then commented "So he is just going to let the fox in?"

Alexandria nodded "Paladin is a complete pragmatist. He knows the PRT and Protectorate will be there to safeguard civilians and watch him, or rather his organization. His feeling is that this makes Paladin Security's job easier as external security and establishing the cordon would be done by the PRT."

Emily frowned "Perhaps we should not do it then."

Rebecca Costa Brown, connected on the video teleconference along with Legend, Eidolon and the other PRT Directors and Protectorate heads barked a laugh "If you have a plan to sell that to the politicians I will be happy to implement it Director Piggot. Otherwise we are going and doing the mission so we might as well avail ourselves of the training and integrate our people. Paladin understands if there is a problem we will be coming after him."

Armsmaster pointed out "He is unlikely to be the problem."

Alexandria nodded "Hopefully no one will be foolish enough to annoy Predator again."

Assault groaned "Now you've done it." Battery elbowed him while various others smiled or shifted positions.

Alexandria gave a grim smile, "Perhaps. Meanwhile if we could move through the other Protectorate and PRT business we can release this meeting back to ENE and get out of their way for their BUB. I would like to return to a discussion I was having with Paladin."

Director Armstrong nodded "I think I am up first? The Boston area is…."

Reality Intrudes

"Wow! Bad meeting? Steak?" Jim asked Alexandria.

She opened her mouth and Alice answered him "No, she needs relaxed. Take her and relax her then wash her. Don't forget to butter her."

Alexandria opened her mouth again and Jim replied "I'm fairly sure that's not what she wants."

Alexandria who had closed her mouth and put her fist on her hips looked at him "What if it is?" Then her mouth snapped closed and her face looked surprised. Alice rolled on the ground laughing. Mouse Protector face palmed.

Reality Intrudes

Alexandria looked at Jim "Don't get cocky. You aren't the only one ever."

Jim laughed "Cocky?" He ground down and Alexandria groaned and rolled them over.

Later he buttered a sputtering, then moaning Alexandria. "Is that normal coco butter?"

Jim shrugged "Its Alices' so, maybe?"

"Materials tinker."

Jim nodded "But I never saw her make it go exothermic. Be kind of hard I think. Stuff is a fuel I think."

Alexandria nodded and changed feet, lifting her left and resting it on his knee "So are you going to tell me all your plans now?"

Jim laughed "Worst spy ever. Make enough money to retire? At this point train up Predator and her crew to take over the outfit? Apparently along the way I am supposed to father a village or two so that will need some money put in a risk balanced portfolio for it. Tie some trust to it for the kids. Get them raised right."

"After that? I have no idea. See if Panacea can turn off my immortality maybe?"

Alexandria put her foot down and sat on his leg so he could get to the rest of her. "Endbringers? And what if Scion turns on us?"

Jim grinned "Boy the rewards on those fuckers would do it. You are a smart lady." Alexandria glared at him. He chuckled. "If one shows up that we can get to, Predator is going to want to go be a hero. She hasn't learned yet, so anyway, Alice has the time stop rounds and I have a long range weapon. Did you see that report of that independent hunter who time stopped Crawler? Of course, she retired, or so she says. Wants to move to Norway, Novosibirsk, No something. It's in Europe so I think she is just moving operations there."

"Glad actually. Keeps the big bounties more open here. After here I might have to go to Europe or Africa if we don't slow the burn rate though."

"Anyway if it works on an Endbringer wouldn't it work on Scion? No bounty on him, so I haven't thought about it much. Want me to whack him for a shot of leg?" He waggled his eyebrows.

Alexandria glared at him for a moment then smirked "Maybe several shots, and a few babies."

Jim sighed "You know there are other guys for ladies whose clocks have gone off."

Alexandria nodded "Other methods too. We can freeze your boys. That bed is big, but with four of us girls it's going to get crowded. This bathroom will need remodeled too. Only two sinks? That will never work." Jim rested his forehead on the side of her breast "Come on. Dress and get me lunch. Then we have training."

"What the fuck? Every one of you wants food and a workout after. What am I doing wrong? You should be tired."


	19. Chapter 19

"Edmunston. This is Canada." Alexandria hoisted a brow. As if to prove her point Narwhal walked up.

Jim nodded and shrugged "Canada, US, North America. Does it really matter?"

"You must be Paladin. Narwhal."

Alexandria snorted "He knows. He knows everything."

Narwhal blinked "Am I interrupting?"

Jim chuckled "Nope. Narwhal, good to meet you. I've hunted up here a couple times. Tracked through really. Always good to work with your folks. Alexandria is a little testy because Rebecca said something about the Protectorate getting in bed with Paladin."

Narwhal blinked "Legend is here? We will have to add you being Bi to our file Paladin."

Alexandria scowled and Jim laughed "A. I'm not. B. Legend is married, which takes him off my reservation, so to speak. C. I don't think he is interested? Flattering if he is, but I sleep rough a lot?"

"Not anymore Gaijin, and not that much to start with. You have RVing down to an art form. Build your own even, tinker 0. Plus we have all these trucks with the sleepers. Rebecca just needs a pamprin, or her partner to relax her. We may have to trade some tips with her." Alice walked up.

Jim smiled and hugged her "Coco butter won't solve all the worlds' problems."

"So says you." Janice strolled over and hugged Narwhal. Or her force fields.

Narwhal shook her head "So Bakuda, and the rumors about you joining Paladin are true Mouse Protector."

Bakuda nodded "We get this done we can have a cocktail and talk while Paladin and Predator cook."

"Then we do Caribou and St John. I'm not sure how I feel about following in the Nines footsteps." Narwhal frowned.

Jim shrugged "Jack will turn up while we are doing this, with some new bunch of idiots he talked into it, and we can finally put him in a bag."

Narwhal nodded "Might as well tag along then. You are going to draw the heaviest hitters of the S Classes. Different having them come to us instead of us hunting them. The Guild I mean."

"Between your organization, The PRT, normal police, and the independent hunters we aren't getting a lot of work in the A class threats anymore. The big hitter Hunters are keeping a lot of the S Classes left on the run. Well the ones you haven't already taken out."

Sherrel strolled over. "Sherrel, they used to call me Squealer."

"Or taken over." Narwhal smiled as she shook Squealers hand. "So two tinkers. Nice Paladin."

Amy walked up and cleared her throat "Three."

Narwhal nodded "I heard you had finally started using all your powers. We suspected."

Alice clapped her hands "OK, more norming later, rock drill and BUB now. Before my ankles swell up."

Lisa looked at Taylor "We always defer to the pregnant one. What happens when Janice is pregnant?"

Taylor grinned "We all get swords!"

Rachel grunted "You already have one."

"Ears!"

"My life has become a cartoon. Vicky what are you looking at?"

"Your hair Lisa. Its close so I'm trying to figure out what color I want my ears."

Lisa looked at her grinning friends and face palmed.

Reality Intrudes

Danny looked at the tablet. Taylor was on Skype. Mei was curled up, mostly in his lap. They were talking as Taylor helped Jim with dinner "The Fallen, Again. I thought they were some kind of hick family group. Where do they get all these people?"

Taylor shrugged "Apparently the leadership is mostly related. These others are just their bangers. We did take down a couple of their known mid-tier capes though. Hundred K apiece. The PRT went on a spree. The Protectorate and Guild backed them up. We got the leakers. That plus our cut on the two sites and we are well in the black on this op. Never mind us, what the hell are you guys doing? Four and half million in bounty money!"

Mei snorted "Out of a hundred idiots. It's more trouble to take them out of the fences than they are worth. Kaiser got in some out of town talent apparently. Then, remnant Teeth and Coils mercenaries. Those have dropped in quality though, well at least in bounty. I think he is having hiring trouble. That's along with the ones the convoys are catching on the highways."

"Lung's fat ass is laying around Asia town running gambling dens and selling opium. He thinks its turn of the century San Francisco or some shit."

"Oh, plus one of the freight depots near Gary, on the northern tier land train route. That's where most of the money is coming from. We should charge the PRT for cleaning that Gary thing up. Capes all over that place. All villains."

Danny nodded "And the further west the routes go the more into Elite territory they get. Plus the fences and workers security systems are picking off a lot of two grand apiece crime stoppers idiots. More of them than the big bounties."

Mei looked at Taylor "Enough business. How are Jims Harem doing?"

Janice's face appeared taking up the entire screen "Fine, why?"

Danny smiled and watched Taylors facial expressions while chuckling as Mei and Janice got into the nitty gritty. He wasn't really listening. Thankfully Janice had backed up so she wasn't the whole view. He had to laugh, every time Janice tried to sit on a work surface Taylor poked her in the butt with something sharp. The constant barks of "TMI!" were pretty funny too.

Reality Intrudes

Alexandria, Narwhal, and Deputy Director Carlton Robinson, the PRT director of the brigade minus of PRT troops that were travelling with Paladin Security's forces, the Protectorate and the Guild forces sat in a PRT truck on a teleconference. Eidolon sat forward in his chair in Houston "Crime is down three percent. Parahuman crime down five. It is possible we will be out of a job!"

Legend, from his conference room in New York blinked "Uh, Are you all right Eidolon? That is a bit the intent of standing military and police forces, to work themselves out of a job. A small part of the intent but it's still there. We simply assume human kind will always have a criminal element in the rest of the population as we have never known of a time in recorded history when they haven't. The same with wars and the military. We assume there will always be war as there always has been."

"I'm not sure one man, Paladin or not, will be able to change the dynamic over the long term. Not unless we change the paradigm and eliminate the reasons people commit crime or are aggressive toward societies that are different than theirs."

Director Armstrong nodded "And there are still the Endbringers. Also, so far, Paladin has restricted his activities to the North American continent. The thinkers estimate he will continue to do so as long as he can make enough money. His businesses, and the businesses of his associates, are currently self-sustaining with only the core business, Paladin Security, facing the same 'put themselves out of business', situation, also he does not fight Endbringers."

Alexandria cleared her throat "Actually, we have developed a plan and have some items we want to try on the Endbringers."

Eidolon glared "We, Alexandria?"

Alexandria shrugged "Paladin is very good at what he does. The parahumans working for him are as well. He isn't the boogey man. Stay on the right side of the law and you won't have a problem with him. Even if someone puts a bounty on you. He won't act until you are suspected or convicted of a crime. I think Director Robinson can tell you how well trained his people are."

Carlton nodded "Well-disciplined as well. Not in the traditional military or PRT way of course. They are truly dedicated and well trained professionals though. His training program is top notch. I would stack our Troopers who have gone through it up against Special Forces troops. If the request for kit is approved then I think those same troopers could stand up to A class Parahumans at a squad to parahuman match."

Director Tagg, a hawkish Director, a former military officer who hadn't made the transition to policing as well as he might have, sat forward. "He improved their combat skills?"

Carlton nodded and shook his head "Not on the individual level, although they do practice a version of martial arts that is more oriented at disabling severely and permanently, or killing than ours which has caught the staffs attention. Reports on it are on the way through channels. Rather the improvements are in the small unit tactics and techniques. He has a bunch of either thinker zero's, or regular thinkers looking at the squads and working with them. That is an outgrowth of synergizing them with his small killer teams. Think three person fire team. In the case of Predator a two person team augmented by her and Bitch's minions."

"A Paladin or Predator team is always three people, even if you don't see one of them."

Tagg commented "Except in the case of Predator and Bitch."

Rebecca Costa Brown interjected "And that is a two person team with a range of several kilometers controlling all the animals. With the potential to grow them into monsters weighing up to tons."

"I don't see anything we can exploit there Director Tagg."

Alexandria nodded "Especially as an attack on Predator is going to draw Paladin. If it is moderately successful he will intervene."

Legend nodded "Him and the bomb tinker."

Alexandria nodded "Materials tinker, but yes. He works alone or with her. I'm not sure when he is more dangerous. Without her though he will go straight to lethal."

Eidolon blinked "Even with her ammunition and that time stopping?"

Alexandria nodded "We haven't seen it work against everything. Bakuda thinks it will, but she won't guarantee it. Our scientist in the PRT are the same way. Theoretically they think it could be broken. The circumstances to do so are unlikely in the extreme, however as Paladin says, he didn't get old being trusting."

Eidolon nearly growled "No, he got that way courtesy of a bio tinker." Alexandria shrugged slightly again, Legend narrowed his eyes at the two other members of the Triumvirate.

Rebecca got the meeting back on track. "The real reason we are gathered however is the lack of activity from the Endbringers."

Alexandria nodded "Predator has expressed a desire to assist with the next Endbringer fight. Paladin and its associates are formulating plans. Mainly their thinkers are reviewing past fights and trying to work up ways they can be most effective."

Narwhal nodded "Dragon is working with them. The guild has already adopted much of the ammunition and material available from Paladin Securities." The Directors in the conference all looked at her. She smiled brightly.

Eidolon backtracked "Paladin wont come after you unless you break the law. Or are a criminal he thinks doesn't deserve the sentence you get. Like Squealer. And he has a army of lawyers. Plus half the politicians in the country in his pocket." Tagg was nodding along.

Legend sighed "Eidolon, all those cases have been reviewed and fought in the courts as far as the courts will take them. We lost. Or rather the people pushing for their prosecution, conviction and incarceration lost. Some of them were cases being prosecuted for political agendas. Paladin has an astute tactical mind. Not all tactics involve shooting at someone."

Alexandria nodded "Paladin is fully capable of maneuvering in any environment that advances his plans. If he can't do it, he hires the very best, or does something to put them in his debt. If you look at the hiring's, or people who owe him, they appear to be normal, then the person turns into, or out to be, an expert in their field. It needs some study."

The meeting continued for a while. Jim squatted by the fire in the ring of stones on the shore of Sebec lake. "How do you squat like that?" Janice was looking at Jim.

"It's the pants. Why I wear these fatigue pants all the time. Got enough room in the crotch for squatting."

"What are you doing?"

"Well I was thinking."

"Hmm. Well, when you get done I'll be in bed."

Jim stood up "Done now."

"Fire?"

"Taylor and the girls are down the shore a bit headed this way." Janice blinked then grinned and followed Jim. Alexandria was on a conference call and the Tinkers were tinkering.


	20. Chapter 20

Reality Intrudes

20

Thomas Calvert leapt to his feet and roared in frustration, punching his desk. His head exploded. He split the time line and he screamed as he was shot in the chest. He split the timeline again and his car exploded. One more split and he was run down by a truck. Another split and he tumbled into the bottom of a ditch and scrambled into a culvert. A semi stopped and he heard a gurgling noise then a whoosh as the flame front chased down the drainage and into the culvert. Split, shot. Split, grenade. Split knife in the ribs. Split, nothing.

Thomas blinked. In both timelines he continued down his escape route to the car. He got in and at the same time turned the key in both ignitions. He realized his mistake as he heard the high pitched whine. He dove out of the car. In one timeline he got full thickness burns over the rear fifty percent of his body. In the other he was decapitated by the door skin as it fluttered away from the car.

Thomas watched as the door opened in reality and snarled at the woman in the hat. She looked at him, shook her head and motioned. Two men in PRT trooper uniforms stepped through the door and drug Thomas back through it.

Contessa turned and looked at the graffiti on the garage wall. "I will still kill him Hat. Time is, after all, on my side." Contessa blinked.

Reality Intrudes

Alice snorted at Jim "Have fun?"

Jim sighed "Killed him down to one and nearly got the other. Hat picked him up."

Alice grunted and rolled onto her side "Good enough. We will get her ass later too. Got to be interdimensional or something. That Haywire idiot made a portal. I'll figure it out."

Sherrel poked her in the boob "Stay in your lane. I got that shit. You get me one point two one gigawatts or better of electricity."

"Ouch! Hey, don't poke the baby feeder!"

"Jim, poke the baby maker."

Jim sighed and pulled her into a spoon. "Aren't you supposed to stop being horny at some point?"

"You better hope not Gaijin. Best you will ever have." Janice and Sherrel flipped her the bird and laughed.

Alexandria walked in "Jim, what the hell did you do to Contessa? She is doing paths so much she can't even talk anymore."

Jim snickered "I left Hat a message. I figured she might get to fucking Calvert if I didn't whack him quick enough. Vagaries of the battlefield, I got one of him but the other just got crispy fried. She got him before I got the next attack off."

"By the way I am still killing that fuck. You don't get to fuck with my protégé. We don't need him anyway. We can use the Endbringers as test beds and then when Goldie goes nuts like you all think he will, we will whack him. I didn't spend ten years building a retirement fund for that fucking retard to make it useless."

Alexandria snorted "And now branching out into every dimension."

Jim shrugged "Planning phase but, more baskets."

Alexandria pulled him to his back "Speaking of eggs."

Reality Intrudes

Lisa turned her back on the Superliner and shuddered. Amy snickered "At it again huh?"

Rachel rolled her eyes "Alphas, they fight and fuck."

Taylor poked her "They do more than that. For one thing they teach us how to make a fortune for our kids."

Vicky nodded "Do a lot of worrying too. Not sure I want those jobs. It hasn't wrinkled one of them up yet, but those old wives tales have to have some basis in fact."

Lisa cleared her throat "Paladin fucked Calvert up hard. He is out of play."

Taylor shrugged "Not dead. We will get him later if Jim doesn't."

Amber, leader of the thinker zero crowd weighed in as she got a marshmallow stuck and into the perfect spot to turn it a golden brown "So the drones?"

Lisa shrugged "Tested. Need a little more work. Those actions need to be slowed down. The targeting system is nearly overrun at eleven hundred rounds a minute. The drones themselves are fast enough and stable enough but the elevation and traverse mechanisms need a little more work. They will work now though."

Amy grinned "So, now we just have to wait and we can time stop the next Endbringer that shows up."

Amber snorted "Only if we can get the protectorate and their people out of the way, the Endbringer in a space cleared of other people and it holds the fucker."

Rachel shrugged "Black hole grenade if the time stop doesn't work. Alice just wants one so she can play with what it's made out of."

Amy sighed "Her poor kids."

Taylor smiled "Well they do get Jim as a dad. He is pretty cool."

Reality Intrudes

"Jones Trucking is owned by Paladin." Armsmaster read over the WEDGDG report "We didn't know this sooner why?"

Emily Piggot sighed "MIRIS is operating on a shoestring so their networks and reporting systems are old, slow and barely interface with everyone else's. In other words lack of crosstalk. Jones trucking just now became a big enough economic factor to attract Wetdogs attention. It did have registered parahumans as co-owners and workers though so MIRIS knew about it and has even helped them get some permits and things."

Miss Militia snorted "Because Paladin isn't a parahuman, just the victim of one."

"Who makes good lemonade." Assault grinned. Battery backhanded him in the chest.

Emily smiled. Assault frowned in concentration playing the last few minutes over in his head. "Life handed him lemons, and yes, he does. So, school is out, the wards have permission and are going into the rotation covering Paladins operations on the Gray Boy zones. Starting with the one in Amherst."

Armsmaster nodded "There will be two Protectorate members rotating in for coverage for the six weeks the Wards are deployed. One week per pair. Miss Militia will be on site the entire time of the wards deployment as the chaperone."

"We have a tractor and trailer, worked by Paladin Security and Jones Trucking. All of the PRT Directorates are receiving them now. This truck and trailer combination will function as dormitory, armory, shops, tinker facilities, offices and in the worst case, a redoubt. You will find the manual downloading into your phones. Please take the time to study it. There will be a test before you can deploy."

"During your time with Paladin Security you and your partner along with Miss Militia will be put into a small three person team and your powers synergized by Paladins thinkers. Other Protectorate members from other directorates will also be present along with their wards and will be undergoing the same testing and training."

Assault blinked "So a live fire summer camp? I mean, Amherst? Whatever is left of the Teeth and Accords organization are bound to show up."

Emily chuckled "Almost certainly in Accords case. He apparently had left a plan and his organization purchased him and the ability to unfreeze him. You can expect some test from his organization but the Boston Protectorate is applying substantial pressure to him as well. We do not intend to have another pitched battle in a city. That being the case you will engage any attempt to penetrate the perimeter as hard as possible. While lethal force is not authorized in a general sense do what you have to to put them down, hard."

Armsmaster nodded "The rules of engagement are also uploading to your phones. There will be a test on them as well. Alexandria is often on site." He paused and everyone looked at Assault. Who sighed. Battery nodded her head and smiled tightly. Armsmaster continued "When we are not on mission with Paladin we will be conducting our normal patrol schedule here. While crime has in fact dropped to below the national average, the criminals that are left are evolving."

Assault did have something to say this time "The leaves and trash blown into the time stop zones gives away the locations with Paladin protections. The criminals focus elsewhere."

Emily nodded "And we will be too."

Battery nodded "Have we gotten more time stop rounds for the PRT Troopers? We are going to be putting some pretty serious pressure on Lung."

Emily smiled again "Yes, finally supply has caught up to demand across the PRT, so much so that if you look at your calendars you will find a time and date for pistol qualification and issue on them. Before you deploy you will be qualified on the M9. Sidearms will now be required carry items on and off duty. We have several very concealable models for you to choose from and purchase, at a very nice discount. On duty you will carry the M9. Hip or shoulder holster is up to you and Image to work out. You will carry on magazine loaded with five time stop rounds and one magazine loaded with normal nine millimeter rounds." The protectorate heroes blinked.

In the Protectorate lounge after the meeting Assault looked at Battery "OK what is going on. Piggot never smiles, and now we just spent an hour looking at her smiling nearly continuously."

Velocity chuckled "She is topped out on the promotion ladder and her directorate has settled down into something reasonable. I think she deserves some time to relax."

Triumph frowned "Knock on wood. Plus I heard Bakuda caught her in a couple of those healing things. An accident. She was trying for Alexandria to fix her eye."

Battery blinked "I thought that was Panacea figuring out she was a blaster."

Hannah shrugged "Does it matter? Velocity is right and she is healthier." The others all nodded and Battery getting out her phone got the rest of them started on everything they needed to do.

Reality Intrudes

Dennis watched Missy on the range and shook his head. Missy was a demon with a pistol. Freaking thing looked like a cannon with her using it, but she could put bullets wherever she wanted them and her face was locked in a permanent grin.

Pistol qualification and rig familiarization, to include how to drive the thing. Who knew big trucks had automatically shifted mechanical transmissions? All in a simulator of course, or on the trailer fort thing that was staying here at the protectorate but still. That thing was amazing. It was all space expanded on the inside. You could probably carry a ships worth of stuff in it. A big ship.

No wonder Jones Trucking made all that money with those land trains. Three of these trailers apiece without the room dividers. He had heard they could carry ten thousand tons per trailer. The tractor had that section on the back where the gunners and electronic warfare officers worked. Plus the sleeping quarters for all of the crew.

Then there were the prison trailers. He had been through one of them on the simulator. Along with a hospital trailer. Amazing.

Dennis looked at the grinning dancing Missy, who had just put fifteen rounds through the same hole fifty meters away.

Dean stepped up to him "Well. One of us is happy."

Dennis sighed "Yeah. Too bad Sophia was an idiot."

Missy had walked over "You just liked her ass."

Dennis shrugged "It is a nice ass."

Missy rolled her eyes "Well if someone doesn't tear it off on the containment wall in Gary you might see it again. If she pulls her head out of it and Predator or Paladin don't kill her."

Dennis nodded "Predator beat her up a bunch. She doesn't seem to hold a grudge." Missy and Dean looked at him. "What? She doesn't. She does what she is going to do then leaves you alone."

Missy nodded "To find medical attention."

Reality Intrudes

"So." Taylor walked along with her hand on the pistol grip of her single pointed M4.

Jim shifted the M21 in his arms a bit. "I don't much. A button, maybe a tear her and there."

"Ass. You know what I mean."

"I thought you were getting it. We amble along, making money in the way that we do and all these folks do what they do. It works out." Jim shrugged.

"You are the worst you know that. None of this is what these people would be doing without you around. Alice would have been a mad bomber. Sherrel would be a drugged out idiot making hillbilly tanks. I would be, I don't know, not the heir apparent to the killer man. Rachel would be monosyllabic and socially maladjusted."

"She's still monosyllabic."

"Not with me."

Jim grinned like a monkey "TMI!"

"I will shoot you." Jim had to stop walking and put his hands on his knees after resting the rifle butt on the ground. He laughed until his sides hurt. Taylor finally giggled "Ass."

After he recovered and stood up he grinned "My only plan was to make enough to retire. That's still my plan. People just keep changing the conditions so it's-"

"Survive, improvise, adapt and overcome. Yeah yeah." Taylor settled somewhat and they kept walking the perimeter.

Janice looked at Rachel where they were walking about fifty meters to the left and fifty meters behind Jim and Taylor "She even walks like him. You are going to have to do something Rachel."

Rachel shrugged "I like it."

Janice snorted "Well Panacea could give her a Jim."

Rachel nodded "Make it fully functional too. Then she can give me one. Got to take care of all this bullshit first."

"Plus let Taylor get of age maybe?" Janice asked.

Rachel snorted "Meh. Age is a number."

"An important one though."

"That's what Danny says."


End file.
